This new album by Ricky Ross has almost nothing to do with "What You Are", his first solo work after the break-up of Deacon Blue. "New Recording" is a collection of eleven songs, almost completely free of arrangements. Despite being an unsophisticated domestic production, the album is truly sensational. A guitar and a piano are the only accompaniments to Ricky's voice, except for a few string arrangements and light electronic rhythms. Recorded between March and July in Glasgow, it has been produced by Paul McGeechan and Ricky himself, who has created his own company, Internazionale Records, because he wanted to have complete control over the final product.
I must confess the record has pleaseantly surprised me. For some reason, "What You Are" left me a little disappointed even though it contained a good number of admirable songs. However, in the new album I have found some of the brightest moments in Ricky's music. The eleven songs complement each other perfectly and work together marvelously as an album, just like the songs did back in "Raintown" and "Fellow Hoodlums". The album starts of with the ingenious "My Only Tie", which brings together the best of what Ricky has to offer within this new piece of work. After "Blue Horse", we come upon "The Further North You Go", a duet in which Ricky´s voice can be heard alongside that of his wife, Lorraine McIntosh, whose talent is thereby demonstrated once again, but this time after valuable voice training. The re-working of "The Undeveloped Heart" is truly commendable and, in fact, far superior to the original version created by Deacon Blue. But no less interesting is the incredibly powerful and moving surprise of the entire album, a piano tune entitled "Cresscell Street" which was co-written by Lorraine and Ricky. Another two songs which deserve notice are the catchy tune "I Love You" and a song previously recorded but unreleased by Deacon Blue entitled "Earth A Little Lighter". Both of these come before a gem of a song called "I´m Sure Buddy Would Know". The album finishes up with three more songs: "Here´s Singer", "On The Line" and the impeccable "Ash Wednesday" whose guitar sections are reminiscent of the best moments of Springsteen in "Nebraska". Their excellence makes it clear that these compisitions are of great quality. It seems as though plans for Ricky´s next album are a bit different. He will most likely distance himself from the acoustic spirit of "New Recording" once again and go back to a rock band sound like what was heard in "What You Are" with Mick Slaven. Hopefully, the fresh spirit from his most recent album will not get lost in the process, but at the same time, it would be nice if the album were to be profitable and commercial enough to help Ricky reach a wider audience.