In a career stretching over 45 years, Edwyn Collins has made a number of great albums. Starting out as frontman of Orange Juice, he was one of a number of folk who came out of the punk and post/punk scenes, whilst embracing what would become new pop and indie pop. Now 65, he has announced that his forthcoming tour ‘The Testimonial Tour – A Last Lap Around The U.K.’ will indeed be his last.
Let’s hope this is not his last album, because it’s clear that he still has plenty to sing about. The album is named after the words on the talkback speaker in Collins’ home studio in Helmsdale, a village on the east coast of the Scottish Highlands, where Collins and his wife have lived for ten years. The album opens with the first single ‘Knowledge’ which is mellow and reflective, and sets the tone for the album. ‘In my youth I was shy and awkward, anyhow I’ve made it count,’ he sings. Many of us can identify with that, I suspect.
The album is soulful, with country overtones. No, it doesn’t have tracks reminiscent of his biggest hit single ‘A Girl Like You,’ and that’s absolutely fine, not least because a) it was thirty years ago, b) we can still listen to it and c) this is about where he is now. This might be summed up by the third track ‘The Heart Is A Foolish Little Thing.’ Whereas once he sang about being a ‘Consolation Prize‘ on Orange Juice’s fantastic debut You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever, here on the album’s most rock track he reflects on how heartbreak when you’re young seems so intense, and yet when you reach a certain point in life, you can look back and and forgive yourself, that it was not the end of the world after all (teenagers reading, please take note: he’s right).
Is it the most remarkable album he’s made in his career? No, but it’s still pretty damn fine. An album that shows where he’s at at this point in his career, and the sense that he is content. This is not an album fearing old age and death, this is an album full of optimism, and that’s absolutely wonderful to hear. Twenty years ago, as has been well documented, he suffered a series of life-changing strokes; this is now the fifth album he’s made since then. The album signs off with ‘Rhythm Is My Own World,’ a song that encapsulates Collins’ belief in perseverance and love as essential forces in life. This is an album not for parties but rather one that feels like a warm hug.
