A good intro hooks you. First rule of writing.
Rob Wheeler understands this, and Leave Tomorrow is a wonderfully compelling start to the journey.
Whatever he’s running from, there’s no doubt where he found himself. The self-styled “Northern Country” singer recorded these songs during a four-month stint in Nashville, and his love of the place – and the skill in his craft – is clear from the outset. There are scores to settle too: “see the face of my teacher when I tell him he was wrong,” he sings with feeling.
But let’s be clear, anyone who ever told Rob Wheeler he couldn’t do this was hopelessly wrong.
“I’m Not Afraid To Fall” is a glorious arena rocker, and there are plenty of big US chart botherers who would kill for a song as good as “Whisper.” The way he uses fiddle adds real authenticity and, good grief, he can write a chorus.
Yet this doesn’t sound like an American act. Somehow, “Something About Your Eyes” maintains its Northern grit.
He’s got a wonderfully evocative way of writing. “Goodbye Summer” feels just right as MV writes this on a beautiful mid-August evening with sunlight streaming through the window.
“Why Whisky Why?” is catchy as hell and kinda fun, despite lines like “drinking with my demons and we drank the whole place dry.”
“Warning” could’ve been lifted straight from an ’80s Miami Vice soundtrack, sung by Phil Oakey (both intended as compliments). But Wheeler is equally adept at the more emotional songs. On “When You Can’t Let Go,” the sadness is palpable and the harmonies from Marla Cannon-Goodman are Premier League quality.
“Throw A Little Light My Way” sits in that same emotional vein, before “Mount Juliet” seems to pull everything together neatly.
“You can’t find your dreams with a wish,” he sings on that one – and Leave Tomorrow is surely that: the sound of a man grabbing his dreams by the scruff of the neck and making them happen.
Good luck to him.
Rating: 8.5/10
