Coming Home
It’s Not How We Do It
Spring
Would I Lie To You
Rust And Dust
Leaving One Day
Time And Place
What More Can I Say
Why Even Worry At All
Maybe Tomorrow
MIKE TRAMP is an artist i have a lot of time for. I`ve seen him with WHITE LION and solo and on record he very rarely lets you down (except for the FREAK OF NATURE project which i could never get into). I remember seeing him in a little venue in GRIMSBY and got a guitar plectrum from the keyboardist with the keyboardist players name on !?! I also remember another great show in MELBOURNE where he lived at the time (Thanks Mark and Joanne).
TRAMP is a fantastic songwriter and a great storyteller and this, his ninth studio solo album, comes soon after the quick fire trilogy of COBBLESTONE STREET, MUSEUM and NOMAD, all released in consecutive years. If you liked those albums then you’ll be glad to hear that MAYBE TOMORROW very much continues the theme.
COMING HOME has a rockier opening before becoming a mid-tempo track that he does so well. Most of the songs on offer here are fairly stripped down and simplistic but what sets TRAMP apart from the rest is the quality of his song writing.
Indeed MIKE`S voice seems to get better with age and he excels on the more melancholic and thoughtful tracks like RUST AND DUST, LEAVING ONE DAY and the album closer MAYBE TOMORROW (very reminiscent of THE GOOD, THE SAD AND THE UGLY from MORE TO LIFE THAN THIS)
The haunting TIME AND PLACE, which consists of just vocals and a simply beautiful piano backing track is a staggering piece of work; and WHAT MORE CAN I SAY has a fantastic `bounce` to it.
Yet to release a less than stunning album, he just seems to get better with each release. A simply superb piece of work. Here’s to an artist whose voice just improves with age. A shame it wasn`t released in 2016. Could have been an “album of the year” contender.
TRAMP-TASTIC.
4.5/5
by Steve Warsap
