Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Imagine the days when a bike ride meant disappearing into the country for a while, round to nearest largest natural expanse of nature you could find or even when you could ride on the road unhindered by the feel of ever increasing technology dogging every turn of the wheel. Many have tried, and in some cases notably succeeded, to recapture what that feeling is like, to have the click of the milometer go up in stages before your eyes whilst taking in the surroundings without an engine interfering with the natural order of the world. Many have tried but Richard Durrant goes one stage further with his album Cycling Music, he captures the peace of the journey rather than the frenetic discombobulated three minute rage, the sunny day through winding roads and the taste of local food tempting the palate rather than the steam inducing affair of the Tour de France or of thousands of fans lining a route just to see a flash of sweat pass them by.

Cycling Music is a poem without the lyric, a loving ode penned to the Raleigh bicycle with and charm, the surreal gesture of the unspoken word as he asks if you’re able to handle the truth of life with a puncture repair kit at the ready or if the sound of great musical work, so reminiscent of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells but with a lighter breezy, more framing mood, is one that leaves you saddle sore. The latter won’t happen, saddle sore is for those who don’t prepare, and Richard Durrant doesn’t make that mistake, he glides perfectly with the air of a man who has seen the serene and wants you to share in the discovery.

The open road of unhindered imagination is on offer, the road map intriguing and with great stops along the way, especially the opening half of the album, which includes a 26 minutes 26 seconds epic split into several parts that wouldn’t seem amiss off an acoustic version of any early Rush album and has songs such as the superb Shed Sunrise, the tantalising Coventry Eagles, the understanding and knowledge of neglect of Ballad of the Rusting Bikes and the flawless Subuteo Table Cycling placed within the journey.

Following on from his very cool Christmas Guitars album, Cycling Music is the perfect way to while away the time whilst remembering the days in which your first bike was as important as your first love, when the sound of several playing cards placed strategically on the spokes were the closest thing to heavenly and in which the days always seemed packed.

Ian D. Hall