Review by Jason Barnard
The king of the DIY music, Martin Newell aka Cleaners From Venus, presents another superb selection of tracks written, played and recorded by the Wild Man of Wivenhoe. His 14th under the Cleaners moniker sees Martin continuing to tread his songwriting path perfectly well worn over a 35 year period. Over the past decade the world is gradually waking up to his genius and I’m pleased to say that ‘Rose of the Lanes’ is quintessentially Newell.
The reflective title track shows Martin’s knack of English wit is undimmed with Dr Who references “like a young William Hartnell, I come back again”, whilst ‘Denmark Street’ tours under threat Tin Pan Alley, highlighted by its gorgeous video.
Rose of the Lanes displays with the various sides of Martin with tracks like ‘Little French Blue’ – raw indie rock, the blues psych stomp of ‘Rusty River’, with ‘Tatterdemalion’ and ‘My Old Mum’ showing Bacharach flourishes.
‘Rose of the Lanes’ is available digitally on iTunes, Spotify, Bandcamp and other major outlets. The CD is exclusively available from Bandcamp: http://thecleanersfromvenus.bandcamp.com/
More information available at
- Martin Newell: http://www.martinnewell.co.uk/
- Soft Bodies Records: http://www.softbodiesrecords.co.uk/
