Paul Gurney: Blue Horizon (Tailgator/digital outlets)

The name might not be familiar but Paul Gurney was the singer and one of the songwriters in the De Sotos whom we previously described as a “heartland band”. They had Midge Marsden (harmonica) and lap steel player Cameron Bennett on their second album Your Highway For Tonight.

Stepping out again under his own name – with the De Sotos, violinist Richard Adams, pedal and lap steel player Neil Watson, bassist/producer-engineer Bob Shepheard and piano accordion player Craig Denham in support – Gurney offers a collection of considered, often downbeat country-flavoured songs which benefit from the musicianship.

Gurney doesn't have the strongest of voices but that works in his favour on songs like the wistful Blue Horizon, emotional Fragile (“I'm reaching out, rescue me”) and the moody Misunderstood about a couple's heated argument and words of regret, which comes with lovely aural colour by Watson.

And all due respect to Gurney who acquits himself well enough on the wonderful Belong, we just wish Roy Orbison had lived long enough to cover it. It's a Big O-styled ballad buried away at the end.

Among the best here also is the emotionally freighted Ricochet about the social division which Covid lockdowns brought: “do the right thing, hold the line . . . wait for the ricochet”.

It might just be the best song about the pandemic years Elsewhere has heard for its economic encapsulation of so many issues and repercussions: “Line in the sand has been drawn . . . here comes the ricochet”.

Although most of these songs are taken at something like a walking pace, the mood picks up for Perfect Space and the almost rockabilly groove of Trouble.

There are some gently polished nuggets here and if there's a problem at all it's in the running order: Ricochet might have been a better opener than Someplace Else and Belong might have made a strong centrepiece.

But these days people can shuffle at will, so a tip would be start with Ricochet and Belong then work your way out and around from them.

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You can hear and buy this album at bandcamp here