The Mustangs - Watertown (2019)

he birdsong chirps that introduce the acoustically framed and sunlit warmth of 'King of the Green Fields' ("sunrise behind the hill, light the ancient pagan fields…) and the raised tempo of the seguing 'Field & Factory' herald in the beginning of The Mustangs journey across those green fields while telling a tale, through the fictional locale of Watertown, of industrialisation and its march through the natural environment.

Watertown is also the band’s second conceptually themed album in a row.

In 2017 The Mustangs delivered the beautifully crafted but criminally ignored Just Passing Through (life as a train journey); now, through like-minds and a conversation between front man (and primary songwriter) Adam Norsworthy and band-mate Jonathan Bartley (Co-Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales) they have delivered their own warning on the impact of pollution on the environment.

Soft prog environmental message blues? Well, why not.
While that will have the blues police tearing what’s left of their hair out the rest of us can applaud a group that continue to stretch the musical boundaries and challenge themselves thematically and lyrically (this ain’t a band that woke up this morning to get themselves a beer while writing a 12 bar; if anything they write too intelligently).

That said The Mustangs have always been labelled blues rock, primarily though the Dr Feelgood styled R&B influences of their earlier albums.
But the quartet – Adam Norsworthy (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), Jonathan Bartley (drums, backing vocals), Derek Kingaby (blues harp) and Ben McKeown (bass, backing vocals) – have since developed in to a tight, tidy and acclaimed unit that’s as much about melodic pop, country/folk, rock and, yes, even prog, as they are blues.

All of those traits manifest themselves on Watertown, from the quirky and rhythmic, blues harp punctuated R&B of 'An Easy Place' and melodic blues-pop charm of 'Love Will Pass You By' through to the foot tapping folk-pop of 'Going Into Town' and the rockier edge that’s applied to 'Kings of Light' (while early industrialists declare "we’ll illuminate the nation, and black out all the stars…") and the gritty and Stonesy 'Swimming with the Devil.'

But therein lies the thematic problem.
With such a myriad of styles the message of Watertown is lost – the music (well produced by Adam Norsworthy and beautifully mixed by Wayne Proctor) does the talking and not, ironically, the lyrical narrative and story the band are trying to convey.

Further, in this digital day and short attention span age, where the majority of listeners are throwing their music collection on random shuffle or playlisting favourite tracks on their streaming platform of choice, Watertown, as a concept, will probably never get the hearing, nor larger audience, it's musical and thematic scope deserves.

But we come to praise The Mustangs musicality and Adam Norsworthy’s songwriting, not to bury them under the (hopefully still) green and pleasant lands as reflected upon, somewhat poignantly, the questioning ballad and closing number 'Looking for Old England.'

The conclusion however is that with Watertown, what could have been The Mustangs crowning achievement will more likely become their well-intentioned musical folly. ~Ross Muir