New Music – Praise & Blame – Tom Jones

There is life in the old dog yet, the grand daddy of them all has returned to give his latest offering in the sombre and often quite poignant ‘Praise & Blame‘. Those of you that think he may no longer be relevant as an artist would be proved wrong in the 1.5 million pound deal he received upon signing with Island and a quality, well crafted lp that harks back to his gospel and soul roots.

This Tom’s 39th studio album is a testament to his longevity and class, the album’s gothic overtone and traditional earnest likens it to the latter work of legends such as Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, this is definitely no company to be sneered. Watching Mr Jones perform I think whatever genre you may favour it is impossible not to connect with him or his art. I fear like others gone before him we will only truly appreciate his work posthumously, however if your presently in the mood for some powerful vocals with a few ‘hallelujah’s‘ thrown in for good measure go cop it, the old man did good!