A Little More Time

This time around he’s been joined by his regular rhythm section, Billy Stookes (drums) and Pete Thomas (upright and electric bass), plus guests, including Stephen Large (organ and electric piano), Martin Kaye (piano), Jack McGaughey (organ), Ollie Seymour-Marsh (guitars) and Grant Olding (harmonica), plus backing singers and a horn section.

Warson’s previous album saw some ‘60s pop, soul and girl group influences creep in, alongside the more traditional R ‘n’B and blues – on A Little More Time he’s explored those inspirations, er, a little more. 

“That’s always been there, but on this record, I let the wider influences just come in a little bit,” he says. 

There’s still plenty of blues and R ‘n’B on the album, though, but, as he explains: “It’s a lot more straight up, with some really wild electric guitar playing – those tracks are a lot rawer, alongside some more polished, song writing-led productions.”

The album opens in style with the classy title track – a dramatic, ‘60s-style, Phil Spectoresque pop song, with organ, Bacharach-like horns and female backing vocals. 

It sounds like a long-lost gem that’s been discovered while crate digging in a specialist vintage record shop. 

Says Warson: “It’s a sound I’ve had in my head for a very long time – it was the first track we laid down in the first session, so it set the tone for the record.”

We’re then plunged into raw blues and R ‘n’B territory with the smouldering ballad ‘Over & Over,’ which was influenced by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and the ‘60s blues scene in West London, as well as southern soul and Irma Thomas.

It’s now time to be whisked to New York to be seduced by the cinematic and neon-lit ‘Another City Night’, which is a wonderfully atmospheric soul tune inspired by The Drifters and Ben E. King – think ‘Under the Boardwalk’ and ‘Spanish Harlem’ – but with a hint of country. 

C J Hillman supplies some pedal steel and Warson provides a great, twangy guitar break that’s a nod to the fuzz-laden playing of Barrie Cadogan from UK rock trio, Little Barrie.

‘Win Or Lose’ lightens the mood with its funky country-soul groove – there are touches of The Meters, FAME Studios, Memphis soul and Clarence Carter, while ‘Closing Time’ explores ‘60s rock and the West Coast sound – it’s slightly psychedelic, with a jangly guitar riff.

“I’m really into Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds pre-the San Francisco hippy thing, and Dylan and The Velvet Underground,” says Warson, who also plays electric piano on the track.

‘I Saw You In A Dream’ is the album’s most dramatic moment – a haunting, ‘50s-sounding ballad in the vein of Roy Orbison, who has influenced Warson since he was a teenager. The track features some throbbing, phase-shifted, ‘60s Wurlitzer piano and a melodic, Duane Eddy-style guitar solo. 

The record closes with the sublime and moody, piano-led ‘In The Heights’ – one of the darker tracks, with its late-night / early-morning-in the-city vibe, a strung-out, bluesy guitar solo and a slightly spooky outro that was put through a plate reverb and an echo chamber. 

“That track, ‘Another City Night’ and ‘I Saw You In A Dream’ tie-in with each other – they have a similar mood and imagery,” says Warson.

This is his strongest and most varied album yet – a melting pot of a record that has its roots in the past, but still manages to sound fresh, inventive and inspired. I’m off to spend a little more time with it.

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