Someone who can count Paul McCartney, John Hiatt and Elvis Costello among his fans has to have something to offer. Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith has been releasing albums regularly for years, but has not yet managed to win a large audience. Maybe Blue Boy will succeed for which he has managed to get none other than Steve Earle into the production. It has become a pleasant no-nonsense
… country rock album with excellent music. Sexsmith has a penetrating voice, which you could describe as a cross between Thom Yorke (Radiohead) and Tim Hardin. Just like the aforementioned Costello and Hiatt, but also someone like Bob Dylan, Ron Sexsmith is not a beautiful singer but a singer in the truest sense of the word: every word is given substance by its recitation and the listener hardly gets a chance to lose attention. It is certainly not too much of an honor to place Sexsmith in the tradition of the aforementioned singers: the level of the songs is strong across the board and he works on his own oeuvre, regardless of the zeitgeist. (MS)more
