It’s a tough gig trying to get back up on that horse when you haven’t been in the saddle for 10 years.
Texan country star Clint Black was one of the original “hats” with his powerful songs built around almost dizzying wordplay and a punchy sound, but his stellar career was on the wane before he took a long sabbatical.
Ten years on and though his new album does not lack energy, craft or a personable sunny side outlook, eg Summertime Song or the snappy Better or Worse, there is a wearying middle age, advice-ridden tenor to the music.
This is exemplified in the closing track, The Last Day, which advises us to live our lives like it is the last day. Shucks, will do my best.
He does take a weekend pass to extol the joys of Beer which, we're told, was, almost inevitably, written in Dublin.
