Miles Kane is known as the cousin of the Skelly brothers from The Coral, as a solo artist and as the second frontman of The Last Shadow Puppets alongside Arctic Monkey Alex Turner. While the latter would probably seek the support of desert homie Josh Homme for a (long overdue) solo album, Kane also goes across the pond, but for his sixth work he puts himself in the artistic care of The Black Keys singer/guitarist and permanent retro sound producer Dan Auerbach, who also acted as co-composer. A transatlantic traditionalist pact that combines the best of two vintage worlds in terms of guitar playing, both with pleasure and skill.
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So it’s not just Kane’s sweet (Northern) soul strengths, such as in the opulent opener “Love Is Cruel”, that are beautifully sludged in a swamp-flowery way. On the other hand, the singer knows how to occasionally use his Marc Bolan vocal bonus to good effect. In the end, via the mid-nineties charlatans redirection of “Sing A Song To Love”, it’s not too far away to become classic rock in the Primal Scream-esque GIVE OUT BUT DON’T GIVE UP sense.
The Rolling Stones homage “Slow Death”, a souped-up cover by the Californian garage rockers The Flamin’ Groovies, is less obvious and more surprisingly successful. Two definitely found each other.
This review first appeared in Musikexpress 11/2025.