The latest releases reviewed
TEDDY THOMPSON Separate Ways Verve Forecast ****
It can't be easy being the son of rock luminaries, particularly ones as celebrated (in the right circles) as Richard and Linda Thompson. But Teddy Thompson seems to be coping well. This album comes six years after his debut and, if that sounds slow, check out the unhurried pace of most of this fine, crafted work, which grows in stature with each hearing. It helps that Richard Thompson appears on five tracks and that Teddy has strong backup in fellow star offspring Rufus and Martha Wainwright. But, really, the credit lies with his melodic, sensitive, occasionally wry songs and the rich atmospheric production that he and Brad Albetta have carefully swathed them in. No longer a chip of the old block, Teddy Thompson is crafting a block of his own. - Joe Breen
