Al Lewis - A Place Called Home

For those wondering what has happened to Lewis & Leigh in recent times, well Alva has now relocated with her young family back home to America while Al released a Welsh language concept album and now is back with a cracking new single finding his own contentment.

It wastes no time, immediately introducing the chorus and gives us a two view of the same man

"I was once but a lonely boy in Piccadilly

clinging to the chaos and breathing in the city

I would sing my grief while strangers speak in empty spaces

Just to clear my lungs help me overcome my missing pieces"

If the first verse of city life is a little gloomy it is more than counterbalanced eventually by the latter verses as he returns home

"And when I go back the history can overwhelm me

I shed tears of joy for that broken boy, I knew his family

But there's new blood now ans I see it in all of their faces

We will lay the stones, watch the garden grow and raise our glasses"

There's even time for a section in Welsh, where Al sounds outstandingly proud, as well as mandolin solo and a ubiquitous key change that gives this such a bright summertime sound. There can be no escaping that the underlying tune at times owes a little debt to Tom Petty however Al takes that initial outline as a springboard and turns it into something totally different, something joyous.

It may not be a new Lewis & Leigh song but it is surely the next best thing.