Saturday Sounds - Richard Thompson - Hippies, Thugs and Heroes

Richard Thompson is one of my favourite musicians, so a new album from him is always a cause for celebration. That's especially true when it's an electric band album, as is his new release, Hippies, Thugs and Heroes. 

The album just dropped yesterday, so I haven't had the time to give it the repeated listens it deserves, but on first listen I have to say that I like it. There's nothing here that jumps out like "Cooksferry Queen" or "Beeswing" but nothing that will put you to sleep either. "Sorcerers Apprentice" and "Stringer" are probably the strongest songs and should be stunning live. 

This is the description from the email I got announcing the album and tour. 

A spiritual inquiry disguised as a rock record — a meditation on the towers we build and the ruin that follows when we invest in them too completely. Thompson doesn't fully understand every song here, and that's exactly the point. Hippies, Thugs and Heroes is proof that after sixty years, the joy of not knowing where a song will take you hasn't faded one bit.

Speaking of live, he's just announced a tour and will be coming to Toronto in January, but unfortunately he's playing The Concert Hall, which is a general admission venue,. I might have taken a chance on it in the summer, but heading into Toronto at night by myself in the mid-winter with no guarantee of a decent seat is not happening. 

So here's the album. Play it loud.