Reviewed by Tony Cummings

If you read his recent article detailing this album, you'll know that the Scottish singer, songwriter, journalist and broadcaster made this album after connecting with Tunesmiths' online songwriting collective and their challenge to composers to create and record music of an absurdly wide variety. Sometimes the brief was pretty technical - like using the La Folia baroque chord sequence, sometimes intriguing ("write a minimalist piece") and sometimes predictable ("write a dance track"). The resulting album here shows Lins' commendable versatility though the sheer diversity of musical styles, like Volume 1, sometimes makes for an uncomfortable listen and, predictably, Vol 2 works best when Lins is in his home territory of the blues. So his tribute to the deceased music great "What Would Blind Willie Think" and even better his percussion and voice version of the gospel blues "Home Someday Very Soon" are Lins at his most confident.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.