The follow up to their much loved first album sees Johnny Foreigner eschewing the temptation to add a layer of gloss to their recordings in favour of lo-fi scratchiness.
Produced by Alex Newport (At The Drive In, Death Cab For Cutie) ‘Grace And The Bigger Picture’ is a snapshot of life for a small touring band on the toilet circuit as many of the song titles, (‘Ghost The Festivals’, ‘I Woke Up On A Beach In Aberystwyth’), go to show.
This Birmingham trio have always taken a while to get used to but at times ‘Grace…’ is ruefully under cooked and whilst ‘Criminals’ and ‘Feels Like Summer’ show the band still know their way around a killer melody the big picture here is that JoFo have possibly missed their target.
6/10
Words by David Renshaw
