I can’t say that folk music is my thing, as it were, but even I have heard of Kris Drever and, safe in the knowledge that he is a folk singer of some repute, there could indeed be music of worth to be found in his new album “Doing This For Love”.
Fortunately, Kris Drver is not one to indulge himself in the tropes of his chosen musical genre and there is therefore little to be found relating to the injustices of the past and he, instead, focuses on the injustices that are more relevant to his here and now. To that end, much in the way of sentimentality – almost to country music levels -is paraphrased into all these ten reflections of his particular reality with, perhaps unsurprisingly, there being little poetry to be found in his words. Eloquence is, however, present and correct and it is that eloquence that makes his musical midlife crisis into something that will be relatable to many.
Kris Drever is getting old, and is now perhaps older than his actual years, yet it is that mature perspective that he brings to his music that gives this album its singular appeal and I’m sure that I won’t be the only one to raise a glass to that.