Aaron Lee Tasjan: Silver Tears album review – fine, easygoing folk-pop

Sometimes, you need to go the long way around to find out where you really belong. A musician who first learned guitar by strumming along to Oasis songs, Aaron Lee Tasjan's journey has been both lengthy and colourful. The Ohio native's previous work includes membership of American glam-rock band Semi Precious Weapons, a stint as lead guitarist with the legendary New York Dolls, and even collaborations with our own BP Fallon.

For his solo material, however, the 30-year-old is largely forgoing "rock god" status for something more understated. There's a rich, winsome vein of 1970s folk and soft rock running through his second album, best heard on the gentle piano-led bumble and squelch of Hard Life and the gorgeous, slide-guitar-infused closer, Where the Road Begins and Ends. The laidback Little Movies and the standout track, Memphis Rain, evoke the holy trinity of Nilsson, Newman and James Taylor, while Tasjan's lyric sheet is not without humour, as 12 Bar Blues – essentially an ode to pub crawls – ably demonstrates.

Momentum dips around the midsection, however, as twangy country murder balladry takes precedence. Tracks such as the smouldering Refugee Blues, the stark Ready to Die and the Springsteen-esque A Town Goes Dark are perfectly pleasant, but certainly less distinctive, as Tasjan seems to be led by his heroes rather than drawing inspiration from their canon.

On either side of that brief slump, however, there are some fine, easygoing folk-pop songs such as the lively Success and the rock 'n' roll twist Out of My Mind. It sounds like Tasjan is edging ever closer to perfecting his defining sound and style but in the meantime, this album may well make an international impact in 2017. Aaronleetasjan.com