While The Frames are burning their maps, English singer-songwriter Tom McRae is welcoming his (or yours, for that matter) with open arms. McRae, it seems, is looking for direction, for guidance, for a compass to lead him through the emotional minefield of life and its various relationships. And he’s also seeking out like-minded souls to join him on this perilous trek. As the opening track, ‘For The Restless’ points out, these songs are not “for the peaceful sleepers, for the faithless, not the true believers”.
Rumours that the whispery-voiced McRae was going to rock out on this, his third album, have proved totally unfounded. All Maps Welcome boasts the same acoustic, string-soaked arrangements as his near-perfect eponymous debut and so-so sophomore release, Just Like Blood. Even a move to Los Angeles, for so many the home of rock ‘n’ roll, or the inclusion of some of Beck’s backing band haven’t caused McRae to let rip. That said, the sound throughout is remarkably full, considering the lack of fuzzed-up, distortion-driven wig-outs, and plenty of the songs manage to build up quite a head of righteous steam without the need for electric agonising.
Like fellow troubadors Mark Eitzel or Emmett Tinley, McRae’s compositions tend to creep up on you only after a number of listens, even here where, by his own admission, there are fewer songs about killing. There’s still very little in the way of shimmering, sun-soaked pop on offer, though, as our hero navigates a veritable ocean of choppy emotional waters on tracks like ‘Packing For The Crash’, ‘My Vampire Heart’ and ‘Still Lost’.
McRae pours his heart into his often-intense music, and this 11-track collection includes some of his finest work to date. ‘The Girl Who Falls Downstairs’ manages to be catchy and plaintive at the same time. The superb ‘How The West Was Won’ is an emotional sibling of his classic ‘Bloodless’. ‘Silent Boulevard’ is a tour-de-force of passion which even sees McRae and band turning the amps up to 7, while the brilliant ‘Strangest Land’ is a kind of aural fairy tale gone magnificently awry.
Hopefully, the advent of Coldplay and Keane over the last few years means that the wider world is finally ready to ‘get’ Tom McRae and that he can leave behind the box marked ‘Cult Hero’ and step reluctantly into the spotlight, just like he was born to.