1 – September Grass – James Taylor – “The sun’s not so so hot in the sky today, you know I can see summertime slipping away…” The end of the summer is maybe the saddest season of the year, it brings everything to an end: it is like the embodiment of the end of childhood. Taylor’s masterpiece catches it in aural terms – A+
2 – Hang Me In The Tulsa County Stars – John Moreland – You may know him from his songs on “Sons Of Anarchy” but I wouldn’t and this song, off his third album, is a revelation. A truly lovely and deeply felt vision of his hometown that earns its poetic name – B+
3 – One Call Away – Charlie Puth – This guy is gonna get bigger, but this follow up to the Wiz collab and the excellent Meghan Trainor collab is nothing much – C
4 – Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic – The Police – The chorus is a joyous bounce but the verses are a complete slog and the bridge ain’t much… so why the good grade? Because the corus is a joyous bounce – A-
5 – Wrapped Around Your Finger – The Police – Middle finger, no doubt – C-
6 – Spirits In The Material World – Unlistenable dreck, really, do I have to explain why this band stinks? UB40 must be wondering if they had just dyed… – D
7 – Fields Of Gold – If there is a worse mainstream superstar I don’t know who it is. However, this is a gorgeous Mark Knopfler rip off – B+
8 – Tomorrow Robins Will iIng – Stevie Wonder – Reggae beat beauty, if he had released it in the mid-70s instead instead of the mid-90s it would have been a hit – A
9 – Back to Living Again – Curtis Mayfield – Absolute perfection with Aretha at the end – A+
10 – Do You Know (What It Takes) – Robyn – Max Martin’s breakthrough and it is all about the beats already – B+
