Britain's Best Singer Songwriter
Tom McRae must have the patience of a saint with his label SonyBMG, the way that they under promote him, and promote pure shite like Steve Brookstein. I mean how can you want to promote a glorified karaoke artist, when someone who has more talent than Damian Rice, is there making original music. Tom McRae has got to be the best singer songwriter in the UK at the moment, and this album is another fascinating journey in McRae's musical life.
The great thing about McRae's music is that is the sort of music that you can listen to, and notice something different all the time. It is a slow paced, soul searching music, very much acoustic guitars and fantastic musical arrangements, and like his previous two albums plenty of experimentation. This makes for a wonderful sound, and powerfully written songs full of emotion.
This is a fantastic time for the folk-rock genre, and Tom McRae has got to be one of the best exponents of that. This album is very much about how do we find our place in the world, and it is something that McRae guides us through with his music.
The thing is with 'All Maps Welcome' there isn't a song that doesn't represent how you have felt at some point. 'My Vampire Heart' about love, 'Silent Boulevard' how we are lost in the world, with religious undertones, but not surprising when his parents are ordained ministers. And something I am sure we have all felt in life, when our ambitions have come crashing round our ears 'Packing For The Crash' conveys this. Even the insomniac gets covered with 'For The Restless'.
You get the feeling that Tom McRae is a very tortured human being who bares his heart in his music. I suppose like all those brilliant tortured artists before him, McRae expresses feelings we all have. 'All Maps Welcome' is a fantastic album, brilliant to listen too, easy to get lost in but at least you get given a map for the journey. Buy this album as you will not regret it, and as for SonyBMG get your fingers out, promote real talent!