For more than half a century, British guitarist Richard Thompson has produced albums full of curious characters, love laments, deep melodies, dark humor and unique guitar music.
That makes each release a cause for celebration, which is the case with his new album, “Ship to Shore.” It ends a five-year recording hiatus, the longest break of Thompson’s career. His usually prolific pace had been slowed by the completion of his fascinating 2021 memoir, “Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice 1967-1975.”
“Ship to Shore” is worth the wait as this album meets his consistently high standard while sounding like no one else. He’s never sung better, and his jagged solos are brief, sustained marvels.
Thompson produced this set, which was recorded in Woodstock, New York. It features a crack rhythm section of bassist Taras Prodaniuk and drummer Michael Jerome. David Mansfield also occasionally plays fiddle.
The mood is sombre, as usual for Thompson, with much of the music in minor tones as he sings about demons and ghosts, fears and phobias, hard times, PTSD and heartache — lots of heartache. Love blinds, creates confusion, goes wrong and melts away. “Romance,” he concludes, is “overrated” in the song “Trust.”
There are bits of Britishness, such as when Thompson rhymes flirty and dirty with shirt-y on “Maybe,” an unusually bouncy tune that recalls the 1965 pop charts until it turns into a wild bridge. He also explores an interest in Renaissance music on “The Old Pack Mule,” a short song with appropriately sinister guitars and a sing-along chorus.
Other highlights include “Turnstile Casanova,” driven by a dazzling guitar hook and ecstatic vocals, and “Life’s a Bloody Show,” the story of a dead soul who resembles “Fergus Lang,” the clownish scoundrel from Thompson’s 2015 song of the same name, who was soon overtaken by real events.
The set begins with “Freeze,” a shanty and a call to stay active. Thompson, 75, follows that advice, and in the closing “We Roll,” he contemplates the suitcase life that is the result of his still-busy concert schedule.
The Road Warrior thinks, “I’ve gone crazy,” but there are new songs to sing along to.
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