Emmett Tinley

This is only the second solo album in a decade from the former Prayer Boat man. Written during Tinley’s global gallivanting, and recorded in various locations, it’s a finely-produced, mature and occasionally down-beat rumination on love and life.
‘Takes A Long Time To Heal’ speaks of the bewilderment of a failed relationship and its ultimately optimistic, but hardly trouble-free, aftermath. ‘Marvelous Day’ is brimful of positivity, and there’s a country cuteness to ‘In My Life’, with its lyrics about searching for something missing from one’s lot. The beautiful ‘Sooner Or Later’ has an organic naïvety that’s very appealing, sparsely sketched out with Tinley’s touching tenor vocal and delicate guitar, and a bewitching trumpet played by Tomasz Dabrowski adds a spicy flavour. The melodic strength of ‘Nothing In Between’ harks back to Prayer Boat, while on ‘Floating Out’ Tinley’s voice soars – and then soars some more.
Tinley plays guitar and keyboards, but he also makes the most of the electric guitar contributions of Colin Devlin and Thomas Kristofferson, and the cello of Sofie Spanget. Some additional harmonies would have added to the palette of sounds, but his voice is as beguiling as ever, and he hasn’t lost the ability to turn in a melody to melt the hardest heart.