On his third album away from South London Americana merchants Grand Drive, Danny Wilson has assembled a fresh line-up of Champions and located the volume switch on the guitars. There are still reserved flourishes of acoustic country, but one specific influence looms larger than ever before…
It’s nigh on impossible to listen to Hearts & Arrows without thinking of Bruce Springsteen, and not just because it was mixed by Ted Hutt (producer of choice for Boss devotees The Gaslight Anthem). Wilson’s songs liberally rip pages out of the Bruce book of anthems and imagery, albeit with lyrical references transported to London venues such as Tufnell Park Dome and Jacksons Lane Community Centre.
Brothers In The Night and Can’t Hold Back succeed best in evoking the spirit of New Jersey’s most famous son, but there are arguably too many variations on the same template. Wilson’s own personality makes more of a mark on the plaintive Presley remembrance Colonel And The King and the stripped-back lament Too Tough To Cry, his innate talent trumping his occasionally overwhelming inspirations.
