Mike Younger, Little Folks Like You And Me. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

In today’s society, the Little Folks Like You And Me has never been more apt or prevalent. We have become divided whilst trying to unite, we have found more ways to be offended by the small things whilst not seeing the big picture and everyday this goes on, whilst every second that passes we find another way to break apart, we find ways to fracture and disavow those who are our greatest allies. Yet it is in the supposed little folks, the perceived down trodden and the Orwell Proles that hope can come and music can be made.

The fourth album for poet and musical troubadour Mike Younger is one that continues the sense of the heartfelt and the earnest appreciation for humanity and those that live within the whisper of the life’s eternal struggle for change, of accepting those who see life as a unifying force and not a weapon in which to urge the seemingly weaker or less adept to doubt themselves.

For many the thought of being overworked and underpaid is a reality that in this day and age seems incredible to ponder, that there are millions in the west and east of this strange blue marble we call home that still have no recompense from a Government, in any shade or colour, who just see them as scroungers, a waste on the public purse; this is of course intolerable but it is only when you hear the voice catching in a musician of good thought that you take care even more of those around you.

In tracks such as If I Was A Wheel and the album closer The Living Daylights, that sense of outrage is palpable and affecting, it is the sincerity of the musician’s beliefs that carry it forward and make the album one of insightful analysis, all in the name of humanism and seeking truth.

Mike Younger displays the reasoning of artists everywhere, the knowledge that they have been afforded a platform in which to strike the balance between entertaining but driving home a message of outrage when required, solace when needed and the cordiality of togetherness when appropriate. In this Little Folks Like You And Me is a huge delight, it is an album which songs such as Poisoned Rivers, Rodeo Queen, How To Tell A Friend Goodbye and Walk In The Mud are essential listening, that deep down the music is a gift to rectify the unthinking, uncaring and diseased craving for more money than you can possibly spend.

An album of sincere quality, the free thinking man is alive and well in Little Folks Like You And Me.

Little Folks Like You And Me by Mike Younger is released on July 21st 2017.

Ian D. Hall