Inside MusiCast 'Pick Of The Day': "Songs From The Playroom", by Ali Thomson

Inside MusiCast 'Pick Of The Day': "Songs From The Playroom", by Ali Thomson. Reviewed by Eddy Cabello.

Glasgow-born Ali Thomson made his name in London in the mid-70s when his musician brother set up an audition for him at A&M records, where he recorded two albums. First was “Take A Little Rhythm” (1980) and the title track hit #15 on the US Billboard charts. “Deception Is An Art” (1981) the next album landed another single on the charts. Later things changed for the better as Ali and his brother became members of superband Supertramp during the best years of the band. That speaks highly of their musicianship.

Fast forward to Ali’s new album released in 2019, “Songs From the Playroom”. Nearly forty year later, we find that Ali still has something to say musically. Nine songs are wonderfully crafted by a storyteller with a ton of experience. The sound is mature and well-produced. You can almost imagine that the songs were “finished in Thomson’s head” before he went into the studio. That’s how some guys with experience work.

Ali collaborated with guitar legend Robbie McIntosh (John Mayer, Norah Jones, Paul McCartney and Pretenders) and also with talented bassist Robin Mullarkey (Jacob Collier, Laura Mvula and Jesse Ware) to punch in the groove. Again, experience pays off.

From the opening track, “Aqua Blue”, Thomson collaborates with writing colleagues Peter-John Vettese (Annie Lennox, Julian Lennon) while “Song for a Broken Heart” features a nice solo by Supertramp’s John Anthony-Helliwell.

Through and through, “Songs from the Playroom” delivers a consistent sounds on other tracks such as “Black Comedy”, “Song for a Broken Heart”, “Dark Matter”, “Ride the Wave”, “Be The One”, “The Reason Why” and “Easy Love”. The production is clean and understated. I believe that Ali Thomson delivered exactly what he wanted – an album that keeps him relevant, decades after his first releases. Which only proves one point, that great musicians are still able to dig deep and create musical gems.

“Songs From The Playroom” is a long-awaited gem.

– Eddy Cabello, IMC Co-host