Vinny Peculiar, or Alan Wilkes, has recently released his latest album, Return of the Native.The European singer is famous for his songwriting, his exploration in several realms of genre and his wide range of musical collaborations. Return of the Native is Vinny’s 14th album to be recorded and released, and features 11 inspiring tracks that fans will be sure to love.
Vinny Peculiar’s Musical Collaborations Past and Present
In addition to being an incredibly successful solo performer, Vinny Peculiar has collaborated with artists from a number of well known bands. He has worked with members of The Smiths, OASIS, Aztec Camera and The Fall. Return of the Native, along with the two most recent albums prior, feature Paul Tsanos on drums, Bobby Kewley on bass, Rob Steadman on keys, and Leah Walch singing backup vocals. Worcester-based musicians Dan Bramhall and Wes Dance joined them this time, being featured on percussion and guitar.
Like his past albums, the 11 tracks that Return of the Native features are in the genre of classic British rock. However in this album, he has included strong underlying tones of folk music, which switch up the pace from his previous work. Each song tells their own story or pays tribute to a meaningful influence. For example, “Singing Schoolteacher,” which he wrote and recorded a demo version of in 2016. This track tells the story of his relationship with Clifford T Ward, his teacher and musical mentor, with a passion and talent for pop music in the 1970s.
His creative style and passionate energy that he puts into the music he makes are very apparent throughout each of the 11 tracks. His vocals are as stellar as ever, and the band that he has on instrumentals does a fantastic job at keeping with his style and tempo. This album pays tribute to his past albums, yet manages to throw listeners curve balls as he enters new sounds.
Vinny Peculiar is currently on tour around England. His tour kicked off in March, during the time that his album was released. You can still catch him on the last leg of his tour, where he will be performing in Cheltenham on April 29 and Worcester on May 10.
