Long Lost Highway – Darcy McMann (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

There is something dreamlike, timeless even about Long Lost Highway. Something that makes it difficult to pigeonhole in either genre or era. It probably stems from the fact that while there is a sort of 80’s pop sheen to the song, it is also driven by more of-the-moment beats and grooves.

And the same is true when you try to place it sonically, the same slightly intangible blend of cosmic country cool and more electronic balladry, modern pop smarts, and nostalgic pathos. In a way, it makes me think of bands such as 10CC, bands who were, in their moment, about as adventurous and cutting edge as you could get, bands that didn’t take any notice of musical demarcations or generic boundaries. Such bands just made the songs they wanted to make, with the sounds that best served their sonic vision, in the way they wanted to make them without any nod to the fleeting whims of fad or fashion. And that is precisely what Darcy McMann is doing here.

If, as an artist, you are not allowing yourself the same freedoms and broad-minded attitudes, how will you ever really fulfil your own musical potential?