Sometimes you want to forget about seminal and influential albums and listen to nice music. The CDs that have the most legs with us are just good songs — Crash My Model Car and Martin John Henry might not have sold many albums but they get played a lot in the Review Corner.

We were delighted to discover Ruarri Joseph at Rode Hall’s Just So festival this year (he was with William the Conqueror, if you were there), who turned his back on a record deal and just makes nice music.

This new album from Rob Richings is equally good. Perhaps it will never be massive but it’s a really nice album to listen to, with lots of melody and wistful lyrics.

The title track opens and it’s as pleasant a folk/pop song as you’d want, with strings, acoustic guitar and lyrics remembering the “good old days”. Richings has been quite ill and this presumably changed his outlook on life: early standout track Ten Seconds appears to be about the first 10 seconds of wakefulness, that brief brain-clear moment before you realise (in his case) you’ve got cancer. Glorious, on the other hand, is about how glorious life is, even with a dead-end job and a commute. You’re alive, it’s better than the alternative.

Richings is a fan of Passenger, and this has got that same simplicity about it, though as an album, Richings’ is stronger. Very nice folk pop, with good melody and pleasant to listen to. Go and buy it today.

Click on the link below to buy, always choose an indie record store first.

.