Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The road indeed may be long, it may be one in which the petrol gauge hovers above the empty tank signal for quite some time before finally you come to a shuddering and dramatic halt in some quiet and eerie back water. That road is not for the faint hearted, it is the one in which fables and myths arise and stories of the most unsavoury flavour feature; it is not the Midnight Highway, it is not the one that has the radio playing songs of joy and memory and the comfort of solitude or the reassurance of company along the way and the sound that covers thousands of miles just to take you back to a place you might call home.
Quinn Sullivan’s Midnight Highway is that one of faith, devotion to the journey ahead and loyalty to keep listening to the album as you lose count in the streetlights overhead or the distractions offered by life’s radio signal. Midnight Highway is the place to be with music that keeps your ears attuned to the rules of the road that it never allows you wander onto a path of self destruction or non belief in the artist.
The thought that someone of such amazing talent, who holds a guitar like others of his age hold their first beer, with fondness and an unflappable heart, should reside in the genius of someone so young is enough to make the highway even more impressive; to bring out tracks such as Tell Me I’m Not Dreaming, Lifting Off, Graveyard Stone and without prejudice one of the dramatic and finest version of George Harrison’s Whilst My Guitar Gently Weeps to ever grace the space around a set of stereo speakers, is to inflame love, to know that Highway may be long but it can also be the most enjoyable ride of your life.
The album is full of devotion and is a natural progression to his two earlier offerings, and yet even in that evolution there is still the charm of the young musician greeting his fans with a smile and firm mature handshake; this is the man in control of the journey but he has no problem with you taking the wheel and choosing the soundtrack that takes you across every bump and every smooth career defining mile.
An utterly divine album, Midnight Highway is one that does not need to stop for petrol, never needs a carwash to hose it down of dust and spillage; it just purrs along and takes the listening passengers to a place of comfort and satisfaction.
Ian D. Hall