Recording and performing as a solo artist for nearly as long as he has with The Strokes, Albert Hammond Jr has undergone something of a musical rebirth on his fourth solo studio album Francis Trouble. Inspired by the deeply personal topic of the stillborn death of his twin brother Francis, it is by no means a morbid exploration of mortality. Instead, it is as if new life has been breathed into the illustrious New Yorker creatively – Hammond Jr himself has pondered whether the new direction is a result of the life that he shared his mother’s womb with for that short period. Regardless of where it has come from, the end result is by far his most complete and accomplished solo album yet.

Built atop a riff straight out of ‘Lust For Life’, the album opens with ‘DvsL’. It’s an immediate amalgamation of all those classic New York bands from across the ages – you would not need to know anything about the artist to instantaneously recognise where he comes from. Similarly with ‘Far Away Truths’, an urgently paced track that isn’t afraid to call back to the classic Is This It? sound but is also a thrilling evolution of it. It’s apparent that Hammond Jr is now fully at ease with life as both a frontman and solo artist – and so he should, for Francis Trouble marks the moment where everything has come together. On each of his previous solo albums, there have been moments of greatness – but this is undoubtedly the first record where everything has slotted together with such ease. His ability with a guitar has always been unquestionable, but here the songwriting has moved on infinitely.

Rather than relying on the same template throughout, Hammond Jr has clearly cast his net for inspiration much further afield. ‘Set To Attack’ is what the early-era Beatles would sound like in 2018, a gentle and simple harmony lying over a simple guitar rhythm as he sings: “I was so quiet but you were excited, waiting for the dance”. Meanwhile,’ScreaMER’ comes from the other, darker side of town – its sleazy Stones-like blues-rock riff matched with a cheeky ‘woo-hoo’ ripped straight from ‘Sympathy For The Devil’. What is interesting, of course, is that Hammond Jr is himself a huge influence on an entire generation of musicians and guitarists. By paying homage to the greats who came before him, he is merely repackaging it in a fashion and style that is unarguably his own.

It is perhaps testament to how much of a step forward that Francis Trouble presents, that you could argue that only a handful of tracks from his previous three albums would make the cut here. The vocals in ‘Tea For Two’ sound like a completely new artist altogether: throaty and raw like Liam Gallagher before a soft earworm of a chorus kicks in and a floating saxophone solo drifts through the ether. It’s remarkable just how comfortable Hammond Jr sounds, and how the album feels, given the circumstances and context. Perhaps the introspection that would have accompanied exploring the weighty subject matter has now resulted in an Albert Hammond Jr who is finally free to express himself in exactly the manner that he wishes to.

On album highlight ‘Rocky’s Late Night’, Hammond Jr sings: “I’m not the same as I was before” – and that could easily be the album’s mantra. If this had been released by The Strokes, the world would have stopped and caught breath in wonderment at the relighting of their creative fire. What is more exciting here though is that it is in fact something completely new instead, a huge leap forwards from an artist who has used the past as a thrilling launchpad into a brand new future.

Jamie MacMillan

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