Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie
Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie
[Atlantic, EastWest]
Is it unfair to compare this record to the Fleetwood Mac canon? I think not. This is not so much a case of apples and oranges as it is oranges and slightly over-ripe satsumas. This is the first ex FM collaboration between these two demonstrably great songwriters (John and Mick swing by too) which presumably explains why they didn’t actually bother to name it.
Cover art is similarly basic – here he is, there she is. The pair are no strangers to the cosmetic surgeon’s chair, so Lindsey now resembles Art Garfunkel facing into a hurricane while Christine looks as if somebody had tried to recreate her likeness from (distant) memory.
Nevertheless, this is not a bad record, it’s simply not an entirely necessary one.
In my World is a kind of gluten-free ‘Mac, bassline from Rhiannon, uhs and ahs from Big Love. Lay Down for Free sounds as if somebody were listening to The Traveling Wilburys at a barbecue two gardens down.
I rather warmed to On with the Show but that may have been because I knew it was the penultimate track. On the final cut, Carnival Begin, Buckingham’s guitar solo sounds as if he were attempting to chastise the instrument.
The record already features on Rolling Stone’s top 50 of 2017. Huh?
Words – Conor Stevens
