As nice as it would be for Gaz Coombes to turn the car around, listeners are strapped in tightly for his new album. Releasing half of the tracks as singles and then powering on through, Turn the Car Around marks a decade of solo work from the Supergrass frontman. Just nine tracks, four or five of those released as singles, it is not quite clear how many were made as official singles. Either way, there are few surprises lingering on Turn the Car Around, but thankfully those few are the best of Coombes’ work so far. Opener Overnight Trains is that shimmering brilliance the singles were half-heartedly chasing. Coombes’ album, then, is part album-set tracks of marvellous quality, part decent singles.
Firing through three tracks that were released as singles, Turn the Car Around takes a drive down recent memory lane. That is not a brief drive, through the Arctic Monkeys’ Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino feel of Don’t Say It’s Over and the surprise qualities of Feel Loop (Lizard Dream) feel nicely placed on the tracklist. Indie rock with interspersed seconds of that psychedelic influence, mainly on the aforementioned singles. Long Live the Strange has that to it somewhat, mainly in the tempo and cacophony of noise created under some fairly simple lyrics of love and passion. Coombes is at least toying with something new, something that could push him in the right direction. More often than not for Turn the Car Around, it does give him something new and exciting to work with, aside from the standard feel of the title track.
Not the Only Things is as impressive and well-worked as Overnight Trains, the former a quality, instrumentally unique piece that lingers on ballad-ready lyrics. The latter is much the same. Turn the Car Around hides away some of its best tracks, as though releasing some moderately solid singles was a “gotcha” moment, where listeners can instead enjoy some genuine quality as opposed to the numb Sonny The Strong. When Coombes hits it right though, with the intoxicating highs found on Not The Only Things and the tremendous work on This Love, his music and his presence as a solo artist with decades of experience comes to light, turning in a slick, interesting style as ever.
Solid work from Coombes, with some solo career highs filtered into this one. Overnight Trains is the early high point, and then it is a push through three singles that have neither grown with incredible status nor receded from memory. Considering Coombes’ work and writing with Supergrass also, it is easy to push Turn the Car Around as one of his better albums. His transition, like so many of his Britpop contemporaries, into a solo artist with a unique, indie angle, is a success. Turn the Car Around is a marker of the usual qualities found in that genre, paired with an artist that looks to be finding his footing in the grand arena of solo work. After spending so long with a band, it seems Coombes is truly ready to leap into the fire, and Turn the Car Around is a great place to jump from.
