What connects Gary Numan, Alan Clayson, Joe Jackson, Macy Grey and Alexander Armstong? Well they each have their own individual musical place within The Business, emphatically not part of any grouping or movement. They are What They Are…..

There are few artists anywhere selecting material from spheres wider than this chap. One minute he will sound like some smooth cad in a 1930s tea dance room the next he will tackle a Stranglers tune. As someone who occasionally performs that band’s No More Heroes as an acoustic waltz, I can really relate to Armstrong’s muse. It’s all music, we have many decades to select from now, why fence yourself in? So he roams far and wide and then goes in to the studio to record, often using baroque arrangements and varied instrumentation. The baritone voice adapts to each style and sound equally good in concert. He leaves some old dears perplexed! But he is after all that nice man off the telly…….

The lead and title track is a traditional melody and evokes a documentary about trawlermen. The orchestration is absolutely beautiful and the guitar playing –by John Parricelli – leads us into the Jimmy Webb psychedelic ballad once roared out by actor Richard Harris. The melody remains captivating and the words remain utterly absurd, beyond parody. Armstrong manages to sing it with a straight face. Lord knows how, I couldn’t.

The Vagabond has stealthy tempo and has a pure Radio 3 sound. Long Ago Forgotten mines a pastoral mood. Twinkling harps and hints of Scarborough Fair then we are listening Fields of Gold, something of a cliché now but tunefully delivered nonetheless. Studies in English Folksong #2 is a solemn string-laden item introducing the haunting chords of Scarborough Fair/Canticle sounding exquisite in these hands, albeit somewhere near the top of Armstrong’s range. Golden Brown had probably the strangest time signature ever heard on the pop charts and is about drugs. The melody is taken by the strings as you might expect. Alexander sticks close to the original vocal phrasing probably for safety, but could have let loose a little more to put his own stamp on it. The guitar part is re-scored for a vocal, clever move.

This will be the first time some listeners will have heard the song, one suspects… Firestone is maybe the best cut on his set, a hesitant melody and intriguing arrangement and Armstrong sounding motivated ; Sunday is a Sondheim composition – I have yet to forgive him for the worst ballad ever written, Send In The Clowns, a vehicle for every duff cabaret singer ever to over-deliver. This is not unpleasant but not that memorable, either.

Between The Sunset And The Sea by the producer is a sad refrain straight out of a weepie film and rolls us into Without A Song with its quivering strings. Armstrong sings it straight and it suits his voice. Somehow reminds me of Kenneth McKellar. The Day Thou Gavest dumps us in a cold and damp church, morose brass arrangement to the fore and leading us into Hymn Song by Peter Skellern. Thankfully Armstrong is at his most charming on the song, almost dueting with himself. High Hopes is from Pink Floyd and adapts well to this classical treatment it must be said. How about See Emily Play next time, Alexander?

The Parting Glass is a reflective closing song with neat piano. Caroline Dale produced this collection, the brief presumably to decorate each number with appropriate orchestration. It is tuneful and satisfying as a collection of songs and does seem to reflect Armstrong’s wide taste, which you can only admire.

For this listener however it is too often too Songs Of Praise in style and sombre when it could have incorporated some more jazzy or springheeled material to balance things up.

Pete Sargeant