Dave Mann – Paradise is Just Around the Corner

CD review by Graham Blackley

On this entertaining and wonderfully laid-back twelve-track album, Dave Mann and friends perform his father Al’s earthy and eloquent songs.
Fittingly, one of the talented “friends” featured on this collection is, Al Mann, who certainly has a deft touch when it comes to writing evocative lyrics.
The devastation that we wreak upon the natural environment is highlighted poetically on the moving ‘Blackwood River’, with the pithy: “I’d cry if it would save you/But the last thing you need-is another salty tear.”
The dangers we pose to the environment are highlighted again in ‘Ningaloo Leadlight’, with the devastatingly potent verse: “Fossilized ridge-top easily levelled/Mechanized metal the face of the devil/Candle to leadlight hold it up carefully/Like a vision the pieces shatter most easily.”
Incisive lyrics complemented by a ‘sitting-on-the-porch’ atmosphere and warm stripped-back performances ensure that this album is an enriching listening experience.