Criminally underrated songwriter Alex Cameron has made something of a name for himself by pretending to be all manner of other, largely deplorable, characters. But Miami Memory, his third album, represents something of a shift in approach.
Flanked as ever by his esteemed saxophonist and “business partner” Roy Malloy, here Cameron doesn’t so much inhabit characters as observe them, musing on peoples’ flaws and peculiarities while acknowledging he’s in no position to pass (much) judgement. We are – all of us – pretty fucked up.
This new perspective suits him; the mechanical funk of the opening ‘Stepdad’ is among the finest things he’s written, while the irresistible ‘Bad For the Boys’ tackles the #MeToo movement with admirable tact, all the while sounding like a woke Thin Lizzy.
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