Tom Walker

What A Time To Be Alive

Relentless/Sony

THINGS just could not be better for the 27-year-old who has become Scotland's answer to Ed Sheeran.

His breakthrough torch song single Leave A Light On, unsurprisingly included here, reached platinum status in the UK peaking at number 7 in the UK Singles Chart, amassing almost 180 million streams worldwide.

The meteoric rise of the bearded troubadour who looks like he would be at home at a real ale festival, led to him picking up a BRIT Award for the Best Breakthrough Act in 2019, and was nominated for Best Single for Leave A Light On.

The former Glasgow busker's debut album provides more of the same uplifting mainly mid-paced radio-friendly fare from the cute opener Angels to the reggae-tinged uplifting Blessings, where you can hear that he grew up listening to The Police and Bob Marley from his father's record collection.

If you were expecting anything groundbreakingly new, or maybe a few surprises, think again. This could almost be programmed to be 'for fans of Rag n' Bone Man, Ed Sheeran and Hozier'.

While Walker can surely venture into the world of bland, there is an undoubted songwriting craft going on here, and it is when channelling heartbreak that he soars and the emotional ballad Fade Away certainly makes the hairs on the back of my neck wave about.  

It was actually written eight years ago when as a teenager and talks eloquently to the break up of young love.

But before you reach that you have to wade through Dominoes in which Walker clodhops into 'issues', marrying yet another addictive melody to the clumsiest of 'the media is bad' sentiments, that just makes me think of Culture Club's "war, war is stupid" banana skin.

While he bewilderingly appears to bemoan blaming religion for world crimes he 'educates' us with the lines: "There's still so much love on this planet. The news only shows us the damage 'cause they're the ones with the cameras."

Producer Mike Spencer, previously at the helm with Years and Years ensures that the Walker vision is in hit formula mode and sure to find further spins on ITV2's Love Island.

If your bag is wall-to-wall easy listening big tunes you need look no further.

What does Tom Walker say about the album?

About Dominoes: "It’s been a pretty tricky year for politics, not only in the UK but also abroad. It’s just a bit scary, all these right-wing people who want to take away basic things like healthcare… With this whole album, I’m not trying to preach and tell people what I think is what they should think—I just want people to maybe think about what’s going on a bit more."

"The album cover of my debut album consists of the stories, memories, family, friends and everyone who has helped me create and inspire this album. Without the love and support of everyone listening to my music, this album would not be possible and I wanted to do something special for a few lucky fans."