MAN & MYTH

I got this album late in November 2013 and the first few listens didn't blow me away to any great extent. It was good, it certainly sounded like Roy, and it was nice to see him back after so long, but I honestly thought it was not going to get a lot of play.

And then something happened. Something about the album just clicked into place, and I understood all the accolades it had been getting elsewhere. Man and Myth is not just good, it is very, very good. It really is one of the major releases of 2013.

This album is absolutely vintage Harper, almost as good as anything he has done. Perhaps it is not the equal of HQ, but far better than one would legitimately expect from a guy who has not had an album out in 13 years. Hard rocking at times, and pure proggy folk at others, in these songs Roy is in full magnificent voice (at 72!) and turns his scathing, scalpel eye on modern life, love (and politics), dissecting the intersection between our internal and external lives, excoriating at one moment, and poignant the next. The standout songs are "The Enemy" (us, as it turns out), the heartbreaking "January Man" (reflecting on lost love), and the spectacular "The Exile", a gorgeous marvel of compelling prog folk-rock by an old pro at the top of his game. It isn't a perfect album since the epic "Heaven is Here" meanders about and perhaps goes on a bit too long, but it is certainly an album that came as a huge surprise, far more rich and rewarding than a first couple of listens might suggest.