Full Review

Richard Thompson – Dream Attic

Richard Thompson, one of the most distinguished guitarists and songwriters of our time, returns with ‘Dream Attic’, a magnificent collection of 13 new songs (and this deluxe 2CD edition includes a CD of alternate versions).

The album opens explosively with “The Money Shuffle,” which Thompson says is “dedicated to our good friends on Wall Street who did such a fine job lately…. It’s just a mild satire.” The resulting take is the antithesis of mild, building toward an absolutely scalding guitar solo. From this bracing start, the sequence rolls through traditionally rooted balladry (“Among the Gorse, Among the Grey”), sharply drawn character studies (“Here Comes Geordie”), image-filled observations (“Burning Man”) and recollections of bygone eras (“Demons in Her Dancing Shoes,” set in the East End of London in the ’60s). “Sidney Wells” is a traditional murder ballad in modern dress, “Crimescene” is a raging reaction to the inexorable aging process. “A Brother Slips Away” is a moving elegy to friends the 61-year-old Thompson has lost within the last year, and “Big Sun Falling in the River” is a buoyantly Beatlesque instant classic. The record ends as dynamically as it began, with “If Love Whispers Your Name,” a ballad in that works itself up to a breathtaking widescreen climax.