Troubled Times

Personnel: John Power (vocals, acoustic guitar); Liam Tyson (acoustic 12-string guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar, lap steel guitar, background vocals); Pete Wilkinson (bass guitar, background vocals); Keith O'Neill, Steve Pilgrim (drums); Sam Christie (percussion).
Audio Mixer: John Leckie.
Recording information: Real World Bath; The Bee Barn, Bala; The Premises And The Yard, London; The Viper Studio.
Photographer: Kate Swerdlow.
Ten years after Cast faded away in the wake of their fourth album, Beetroot, the Liverpudlian quartet reunited in 2011 for Troubled Times. Like their 1995 debut, All Change, producer John Leckie manned the decks for Troubled Times, and that's hardly where the similarities end: apart from the spacy soul verses of "Brother Fighting Brother," the album is cut from the same cloth as All Change -- it's all cheerful, tuneful Merseybeat. John Power may not have much spark but he is a diligent craftsman, capable of constructing a sturdy tune and delivering it without fuss. It's workingman's pop: there's no flair, nothing flashy, but it gets the job done. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine