There's a lot going on here – and that's before you even hear a note. The cover is rich in semiotic detail, while the title appears to reference Desperados Under the Eaves, Warren Zevon's classic song of saturnine foreboding that climaxes with the chorus "Look away down Gower Avenue".
The location changes from LA to Dublin’s northside, but the connection is telling: Stephen Ryan is The Drays’ songwriter- and singer-in-chief. The alt.country tunesmith first made his name in the 1980s with the much-loved but little appreciated Stars of Heaven and then continued the same form in the 1990s with the Revenants.
Ryan hasn't lost his ability to write a good tune – 10 of them to be exact, plus Look Away, Look Away, a jangling instrumental doodle that closes the album in typical understated fashion.
The strength of The Drays isn’t just down to Ryan. Two figures from his past in the shape of guitarist Conor Brady and singer Eileen Gogan have signed up, as has drummer Paul Byrne. Brady also produces, creating rich layers of impressive ringing guitars and warm, close harmonies behind the main vocals. At first the album sounds cluttered, almost as if trying too hard to impress, but then it all falls into place – think Teenage Fanclub in top form.
Ryan’s songs are always approachable, if not easily decipherable. He is a pithy lyricist, not given to idle flourish or shallow emotion, though the sense of remove and reflection is strong throughout. He is looking back, raking over the coals of that moment, that incident, that place, that person.
If that sounds too studied, then tracks such as The Assignment, The Fourteenth Floor, Queen of Time, The Seven Years' War and Silver River are a persuasive corrective. The latter is sung by Gogan, as are two other tracks, and what a wonderful, rounded voice she has, a perfect contrast to Ryan's more hazy vocals.
