Album of the week
Miles Kane – One Man Band
Let’s get the obligatory Last Shadow Puppets and Alex Turner references out of the way first. Kane will probably always be known more for those associations, but he’s undeniably established as a solo star in his own right at this point. With over a decade of releases behind him, this marks his fifth solo outing. He can usually be relied upon to produce something solid with a couple of standouts each time. But he’s always worn his influences a bit too overtly, meaning he’s struggled to really establish himself as more than a competent revivalist. One Man Band continues that pattern.
Produced by Kane’s cousin and The Coral frontman, James Skelly; this has been touted as a return to his roots. Given that Kane has never particularly been one for experimentation or ever strayed too far from his musical roots, that feels like a slightly empty claim. But it essentially means that the baroque pop influences have largely been dispensed for a primarily guitar-driven affair. And that plays to Kane’s strengths as straightforward rockers are where he excels.
Troubled Son gets things off to a good start; a glam punk mix of laid-back verses leading into an emphatic chorus, a big chant-along bridge, and a sharp, driving riff propelling things forward. The Best Is Yet To Come feels like a callback to his early days in The Rascals with its hints of 60s garage psych. And Never Taking Me Alive is something more akin to garage glam (if that’s not too much of a contradiction in terms). A massive scuzzy riff, machine gun drumming in the breakdown, and Kane at his most defiant on vocals; it’s pure rock & roll attitude.
The album is paced well, with the rockier start, segueing into the more sultry T-Rex-y stomp of Heartbreaks (The New Sensation). There’s the influence of Spaghetti Western soundtracks on the likes of Baggio, Ransom, and Heal. And it winds down to acoustic closer, Scared of Love. The late highlight comes from Doubles, which is like Kane’s take on an old Motown girl group number, except with the volume and tempo turned up a notch. Whichever mood the album takes, it generally sounds really good; as Kane tours you through a range of influences, it’s all pulled off well musically.
The issue is that Kane never comes off as more than the sum of those influences; it’s unclear what he adds to the equation. There’s been talk of this album including some of his most personal songwriting, but it never feels like there’s any real depth here. It’s full of lines that are far too generic and clichéd to feel meaningful; “We all need time to heal”, “All the rules were there to break”. When there are hints at something deeper or more interesting it’s all very surface level; like there’s no sense of how or why he’s a Troubled Son.
Baggio is a tribute to Italian football legend, Roberto Baggio. But Kane’s explanations in interviews of discovering Baggio during childhood and how he, and the Italian players, opened his eyes to an alternative representation of masculinity is far more interesting than anything he manages to express lyrically in the song itself. Otherwise, it’s not clear how the lyrics tie into the theme. There’s nice sounding lines like “Destiny, it’s playing hide and seek with me”, but it’s frustratingly cryptic for something that’s supposed to be personal.
The closest he gets to something really personal is on the album’s gentlest moment, Scared Of Love. But it’s let down by it’s delivery which is just too nice, removing any emotional oomph from it and masking any real vulnerability. Kane never quite lets his guard down in his songwriting and you’re left with little sense of who he is, other than a dude with a very conventional idea of 60/70s rock & roll cool and a decent record collection. Never Taking Me Alive exemplifies this. It’s my favourite track on here but; with its mentions of De Niro, Pacino, and Sinatra, it’s like a tick-box exercise in cool references.
Perhaps the most revealing line on the album comes when he says “I’ve got nothing left to prove”. It feels like a nod to his perennial reputation as ‘the other one’ in The Last Shadow Puppets. Fair enough, Kane is right in that he has established and proven his own identity at this stage. It’s just that, more than anything, Kane is defined by his influences. And, actually, that isn’t the worst thing. Kane is reliably adept at rearranging his musical favourites into enjoyable albums with a couple of genuine belters along the way. Just don’t think about it too much.
Best tunes: Troubled Son, Never Taking Me Alive, Doubles
Tune of the week
Lost Under Heaven – California Dreamin’: The best cover versions are those that manage to reveal a different side to the original. Now, The Mamas & the Papas’ 1965 version isn’t technically the original California Dreamin’, but it is the best known and probably definitive version. Almost 60 years on, Lost Under Heaven give it a new lease of life; staying faithful to the song’s basic structure but almost completely flipping the mood.
Lyrically, there’s always been an undercurrent of sadness; as the narrator longs for the more familiar climes of LA. However, that sense of melancholy was bathed under sunny folk-pop harmonies, giving the song a warm and comforting gloss. On this version, Lost Under Heaven tap directly into the melancholia. The breezy guitar strums are replaced by light piano and ominous orchestral touches. With gruff yet hushed leads vocals from Ellery James Roberts, and airy, ghostly backing from Ebony Hoorn; each word lingers a little longer, like breath against the winter air. The song feels cold, the longing for warmth becoming something less hopeful and more desperate.
The song’s unmistakable melody means there’s still a familiarity and catchiness here but, from sunshine pop classic, it’s transformed into a haunting, gothic lullaby.
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