We’ve played this about 20 hundred times and still can’t think of much to say.
Friends of Mr Macfarlane correctly think he’s super-talented and probably a genius, and in many ways he is, but repeated listening has not been able to lift this album beyond “nice”.
We’ve probably played it more than Macfarlane himself; admittedly we’ve not tired of it either but its lack of a killer track probably lets it down.
Milk is an album mostly about one woman, Macfarlane’s wife Jo. It focuses (as Macfarlane says) on the highs and lows of love, lust and passion. You’d not guess it was his wife and it’s not some sloppy folksy dolksy love album. We guess Jo is mostly flattered, but possibly not so keen on the world knowing that when she went for a coffee with Mr M they ended up having a shag instead. Or maybe she is. Milk refers to the qualities of Ms Macfarlane’s skin; they’ve been married for years so maybe she’d make more money selling her recipe for milky skin than her other half makes singing about it.
Macfarlane is really good at writing melodic soft rock tunes. The closest comparison we can offer is Jon Bon Jovi, not his Slippery When Wet posturing but his more mellow, Destination Anywhere era material.
There are no killer tracks but Macfarlane gets close, with a killer moment: Al Green Sings, a soulful tribute to the great man that is mostly bluesy but has a great guitar section at the end that is inspired.
As for the rest: it’s nice melodic rock, in a slippers and cocoa way. Lots of melody, vaguely country, lyrics that make sense. Worth a listen if you like easy heart-on-the-sleeve intelligent songs.
He was previously in a band called Apollo 440, and his previous solo album, Always Everlong, is more of the same and worth a listen.
See ewanmacfarlanemusic.com.
JMC
