Jackie Leven :: Elegy For Johnny Cash

Peter Felkel opens his Musikexpress review with Van Morrison's claim that the blues really came from Scotland and Ireland, the former Caledonia, and took a roundabout route to the cotton fields of the American South. Endless arguments speak against this, Felkel says, but three support it: Van Morrison, Rory Gallagher and Jackie Leven. The last, a melancholic poet from Fife, battered by life yet unbowed, has nothing formally to do with the twelve-bar scheme but can certainly count as a “soul brother in spirit” – someone who does not bother with the superficialities of pop and titled his first solo work in 1994 The Mystery Of Love Is Greater Than The Mystery Of Death.

Elegy for Johnny Cash is again a mix of folk, Celtic soul, soft rock, ethnic touches that thankfully never drift into dungaree-clad multicultural bliss, and pop with plenty of pathos, sometimes decidedly too much – but definitely not a flat tribute to the “Man in Black”. There are no country tunes, but fine melodies, irritating rap interludes and, in “Blue Soul Dark Road”, a capital killer song that will delight even Dire Straits fans. The record was made in Beirut of all places. The verdict: Leven's most unusual album, but not his best. Release date: 12 September.