– “HIGHWAY”
Often when I write reviews, I pose the question as to whether a particular artist is the best at what they do in the world.
That’s not a question with Robert Jon and the Wreck. It’s just a fact.
Ever since I heard their “Last Light on the Highway” record, they’ve just about been the best – and most prolific – thing out there.
“Highway” is the type of thing they’ve done loads of times before: a collection of singles they’ve been putting out over the last few months in the run-up to their ninth record, due this summer.
What’s interesting about hearing them as an EP like this – quite apart from making me nostalgic for the days when I collected these things instead of streaming them – is that when you’re running a website, you might listen to things when you get them, but a single might just be watched when you put the video on. Listening to all four in this format gives you some sense of their brilliance as a collective.
The title cut here begins with a solo from the incomparable Henry James. The way it builds into its chorus is astonishing – and for good measure, James rips out another solo as a kind of centrepiece.
“Long Gone” is different: groovy, dirty, and kind of glam rock. Jake Abernathie on organ is perfect here, as are the harmonies.
Indeed, he’s back on “Sittin’ Pretty,” and that one is the sound of the handbrake coming off and the county line being raced to before the police get a scent of the trouble. Rock ‘n’ roll is distilled brilliantly by true masters of it.
But they’re also masters of light and shade, as this ends with the first track they put out this year to mark the beginning of this chapter. “Ashes in the Snow” is an anthem of hope – more poignant, perhaps, than you’re expecting.
But you’re also listening to a band that’s at the peak of its powers – a peak that’s been going for about five years now.
“Highway” is a signpost to the fact that “Heartbreaks and Last Goodbyes” is already one of the albums of the year.
Rating: 9.5/10
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