Given that his most noteworthy recent exploits – publicly ridiculing Mick Jagger’s genitalia and making cameos in blockbuster films – have had little to do with music, Keith Richards’s first solo album in 23 years is surprisingly compelling. Backed, as he was in 1992, by the X-Pensive Winos, Richards mixes uptempo blues (Blues in the Morning) with more introspective fare where his gravelly delivery has much in common with Mark Lanegan (as well as one misguided venture into lukewarm reggae). Pleasingly, Heartstopper and the standout Trouble suggest he hasn’t forgotten how to write killer riffs when the mood takes him. By the end, you find yourself wishing he was just a little more prolific.
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