Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The voice of Charlie Harrigan is one of rough silk enhanced by a gracious sentimental charm, it is just a shame that for quite some time he has been missing from the world of Folk music and the big hole he left was never ever going to be filled by anyone until he was ready to come back and plug himself back into it.

Time may have moved on but the snug fit of expectation has not been weathered or tempered and the joy in hearing Charlie Harrigan’s voice once more in a new collection of songs is not Wasted And Wounded, rather it is a feeling of gracious mercy.

The album completes a come back into the lives of Folk fans perhaps arguably dismayed by Charlie Harrigan’s departure from the scene, a comeback that is more akin to a prodigal return and one that is heartened by rejoice and gladness, of satisfying musical feasting and the sheer delight in songs that frame the point of return and restoration.

Recorded at Glasgow Music Studios, Charlie Harrigan taps into the world of musicians such as Tom Waits, John Denver, Don Gibson and Lyle Lovett with ease and refinement. However it is in his arrangement of traditional songs that catch the ear and as Sporting Life Blues, Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye and The Poachers take their place between songs such as I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You, Writing On The Wall and Wince Coles’ By The Glow Of The Kerosene Light with hope and outstanding value to the listener’s overall appreciation of the genre.

Whilst the album may suggest that it is a comeback, in truth it is perhaps to be seen more as a renaissance, a revitalisation, not just for the performer but for the spirit of music as a whole, it offers hope that you can be out of the public eye for some time and yet class will always out itself and return with vigour and panache.

Wasted And Wounded is an album that allows the listener to enjoy what they know best, to understand a musician who has seen the world and knows that deep down it is a beautiful place.

Ian D. Hall