Album Review Gaz Coombes - Turn The Car Around

Over 30 years at the helm of Supergrass and a solo career already numbering 10, Gaz Coombes has quietly proven himself one of the UK’s most underrated songwriters. Not as mouthy as a Gallagher or mind-bogglingly prolific as an Albarn, despite Gaz’s line in deceptively intricate melody and a vocal that can do rousing rallying or elegiac balladry with equal skill, his solo material has flown under the radar. ‘Turn The Car Around’, however, is yet further proof that there’s true treasure to be found in these parts. From the cerebral slow-build of opener ‘Overnight Trains’, which crashes two-thirds in to an escalating declaration of hope, Gaz’s fourth creates a nocturnal palette that’s familiar yet sonically adventurous. ‘Feel Loop (Lizard Dream)’ is part antsy early Radiohead and part Beck groove; ‘Not The Only Things’ - written for his autistic daughter - elevates from acoustic-plucked beginnings to a gorgeous flourish of layers and harmony, while the off-kilter rhythms and cowbells of ‘This Love’ give way to a central chorus line that’s almost Bowie-esque. They’re big reference points but ‘Turn The Car Around’ uses them masterfully to drive down its own sonic motorway.