PM Warson is certainly not one to rest on his laurels. Barely a year since his debut album True Story was unleashed to the world, he’s already back, and if you thought this was going to be some hastily cobbled together second rate knock-off to capitalise on that initial success, think again, as Warson proves once again that he’s quite the songwriter.
There is one non-original on here – the much covered Holland-Dozier-Holland classic ‘Leaving Here‘, in two parts, first near the beginning of the record and then right at the end. Before that though, Warson’s own ‘Insider‘ opens Dig Deep Repeat with an easy swagger that is somewhere between The Black Keys circa Turn Blue and some of the legendary John Sebastian‘s work.
Those versions of ‘Leaving Here‘ are akin to a mellower version of The Who, and certainly a far cry from the Motorhead version! That said, things do go rather more alternative midway through the album with the near title track ‘Dig Deep‘ which, given its Dick Dale guitar styling, would not be out of place in a Tarantino movie, though it starts like something from a Sergio Leone Western. It’s hugely effective and highly enjoyable.
Most of Dig Deep Repeat though is steeped firmly in classic rhythm and blues, and the beauty of this is that the compositions are quite understated, which means tracks like ‘Game Of Chance (By Another Name)‘ and the sublime ‘Out Of Mind‘ (shades of The Zombies‘ ‘Time Of The Season‘ here) reveal further layers with each subsequent listen. It’s the kind of smoky blues club feel that Madness explored every now and again on numbers like ‘Razor Blade Alley‘ and ‘Madness Is All In The Mind‘, especially on ‘Never In Doubt‘.
‘Nowhere To Go‘ is more of a slow burner, with the female backing vocals helping to elevate the track over an almost Santana like rhythm section. Then the mesmerisingly beautiful ‘Matter Of Time‘ recalls both Ray Charles and Otis Redding, while possessing a backing that seems to be a loving tribute to James Brown‘s ‘It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World‘ from 1966.
The closing version of ‘Leaving Here (Pt. 2)‘ goes all Van Morrison on us with sultry sax motifs and psychedelic synths, belying an ever so slightly ominous demeanour.
Dig Deep Repeat is simply a great soul record and marks PM Warson out as a ‘must see’ artist for the near future.
Dig Deep Repeat is out now on Lègére Recordings.
