Moseley Shoals

You can't blame the boy for gloating. When the Birmingham quartet recorded Moseley Shoals in their tiny home studio, there wasn't a label that wanted them. Perhaps that's why Fowler--one of Britain's most under-recognised lyricists --sounds like a man with nothing to lose on "The Circle" and the aching "It's My Shadow". R&B driven hits such as "The Riverboat Song" and "You've Got It Bad" paint a slightly misleading picture. In fact, there's a pastoral poignancy to much of Moseley Shoals which owes more to, say, Fairport Convention than mentor/mate Paul Weller. --Peter Paphides