Fred Abbott and The Wild Unknown - Shining Under The Soot (Album Review)

Fred Abbott may be better known to you as the guitarist from the much-loved and hard-to-pigeonhole band Noah & The Whale.  A popular live draw, their refreshing, inventive approach to songwriting and record-making set them apart from the crowd but ultimately the band split in 2015, with four albums to their name.  Abbott’s solo debut, Serious Poke, appeared shortly after, sporting a more straightforward, guitar-centred sound.  Eight years later - and having gained broad experience as a session musician and producer in between - Abbott has returned with Shining Under The Soot, a mature and beautifully crafted follow-up, brimming with energy and heart. 

Abbott’s obvious affection for a certain vintage of American classic rock permeates every inch of this LP but, impressively, this doesn’t jar with its underlying Britishness. Teaming up with four singers to spread the lead vocal duties across the record, Abbott has the help of Steve Llewellyn and Dave Burn (his bandmates from Orphan Colours) along with Rich Evans and Tom Figgins.  In an Eagles-inspired experiment, each of them cut lead and backing vocals for every song before a keeper take was chosen.  This unusual move should spell death to continuity; however, it somehow works, contributing to the record’s richness and scope.  The fact that it has been made entirely organically, with no samples, loops or amp models also goes some way to explaining its warm, authentic sound.  

The charging carpe diem of opener ‘Deep Down’ is about as indie as things get before giving to way the effortless, loose riffage of ‘What Kind of Trouble’ and the pure Tom Petty jangle of ‘The Way Out Is Through The Door’.  Writing songs that sound so much like long-loved classics is a dark art that Abbott and co. seem to pull off with unbelievable ease.  A lot of it is in the spotless performances but it’s also in the careful, detailed approach to the arrangements and production.  Crucially, in the process, none of the fizz and joy suffers as a result.  The slow, Steve Winwood funk of the title track follows, awash with swirling Hammond (it’s crying out desperately for a gospel choir) before the equal swagger of ‘Friends of Mine’ fully cements the album’s Muscle-Shoals-minus-the-airfare manifesto. 

There are some different flavours on side two, most noticeably in the form of the two tracks sung by Rich Evans, whose distinctive Americana rasp perfectly suits the no-frills Springsteenisms of ‘Every Time It Rains’ and ‘One More Roll Of The Dice’.  These sit in contrast to the rather more haunting ‘Disillusioned’ and the easy-going soul of ‘Nothing Left’, both of which are delivered and co-written by Dave Burn.  Steve Llewellyn gets the privilege of turning in the album’s yearning, intimate closer, ‘Where No Shadows Fall’, putting the record to bed with the promise of more to come: “It’s not the end/We’ll meet again/Where no shadows fall”. 

A deceptively uncomplicated and superbly old-fashioned rock album, Shining Under The Soot is a transatlantic patchwork of delights.  Its comforts and familiarities fuse with its vitality and depth to create a record that I challenge you not to instantly fall in love with.

Review by Rich Barnard