The followup to 2023’s breakthrough first installment, Drew and his Neighbours return with a loving, folk/indie rock vengeance. We somehow missed vol. 1 when reviewing (I know, I should be sacked) but LOVE it, especially live when we saw it at The Long Road the other week. So, I knew I had to give this second volume all my attention with a full review when it came out, and here we are! Let’s dive in!
The opening track features the one and only Vince Gill, and immediately plays to his strengths. It’s an upbeat, blues/country leaning track and is the perfect choice for opening the album with. It’s simple but massively effective; a fun, foot-stomping song with an infectiously catchy chorus and some amazing vocal harmonies. We even got a fantastic little blues guitar solo tucked in the middle, which I loved. This was a great song and a perfect album opener, and easily makes it onto our playlist!
‘Soul’s a Camera’ delves into their more indie sound, but also had a bit of an old-school feel to it, not dissimilar to someone like Pokey LaFarge outside of the vocal style. It’s a slower, more ballad-like track, but is just as effective and awesome as the opening track. Drew’s vocals fit both songs so well, and the instrumentation between the two very different songs are fantastic. And again, yet another awesome, understated guitar solo. It almost has an air of Jack Johnson to it, but more epic, which I am more than okay with! The album is two for two on incredible songs so far!
‘Suffering’ brings the foot-stopping country back immediately with a very Blackberry Smoke riff. It drops out to the more pop-folk stuff for the verses, while the choruses are yet again more catchy awesomeness. It makes sense why it was picked as the lead single of the album, it’s phenomenal and a perfect radio-Americana-rock song. It feels like a combination of the first two tracks on the album, and it’s going to be stuck in my head for days to come, I’m sure. Another easily playlisted song!
Tracks like ‘The Sound of Moving Water’ and ‘Imagination’ are more acoustic, ballad tracks. Both are fantastic slower songs, and work to split the album up perfectly. The former is very Country/Americana, giving off Willie Nelson vibes for sure. Meanwhile, the latter goes a bit more down the indie route again, the piano adding a lot to the already awesome sound. They’re two more incredible songs, with the former being another huge highlight of the album as a whole.
‘Easy Together’ is another slower on, but this time a stripped-back, easy-listening piano track, yet still packed with plenty of swagger. It’s amazing, honestly. It has a swing to it even at its slower pace, and somehow fits Drew’s voice just as well as the other tracks. It’s jazzy yet somehow still fits the band’s style and feel perfectly, and I love it. It also once again is something completely different, braking up the pace of the album perfectly. The band are such insanely talented songwriters and musicians, and that shines through on this just as much as any.
Drew’s wife Ella joins the band for single ‘Burn’. It’s again a very acoustic-led, folk-Americana track, performed beautifully by the duetting couple. Their voices work surprisingly well together, with Ella hitting some impressive high runs over her husband’s powerful lower ones. And we get some more awesome Frusciante-meets-Slash guitar soloing throughout, which I of course loved. It’s just, much like all the songs the band put out, a damn fun, chilled-out listen in all the best ways. And the lyrics are also pretty fantastic throughout this, too. It almost gives off Primal Scream vibes by the final chorus/outro which was amazing. It’s yet another that makes it onto our playlist, wow!
Both ‘Shelter’ and ‘Forgiveness’ go back to the band’s country-Americana roots. Both have almost an air of Red Clay Strays to them, especially the latter; almost touchingly lightly on gospel elements. It goes without saying at this point, but both were excellent songs. And while the latter is typically a touch more up-beat and more up my street, I think I actually preferred ‘Shelter’. Its epicness and Drew’s incredible vocals were fantastic. Still, that shouldn’t take away from ‘Forgiveness’ at all, it’s a great song with an amazing message and a very catchy chorus.
The closing song is another beautiful piano ballad, made even more epic by the inclusion of the strings and the powerful parental lyrics. It almost had a Randy Newman air to it, which I couldn’t not love. And, while I typically am not too into the slowest track closing out the album, it’s hard to deny how utterly phenomenal this song is. I don’t even have children and it hit me hard, giving me goosebumps. God, I want to see this live so much, it nearly brought me to tears. Drew sung it absolutely masterfully, delivering so much emotion. What an amazing way to close out an amazing album!
Overall: I can’t get over how good this is. I know I loved vol. 1, but this is just as good, if not even a smidge better! Every song on it is amazing in its own way, and yet the album flows together perfectly. It’s certainly a worthy successor to their last album, and one I’ll be listening to for months to come still, I’m sure. As if they aren’t already a massive name at this point, I can see this album shooting them to the sky!
The Score: 9/10