Opening Time For The Battered finds David Palfreyman taking stock in personal spaces where time, memory, and creative identity live. The album brings rock, folk, alternative, and touches of pop on a single serving while being grounded, human, and reflective. Itโs the sound of someone who has been around life a few times and isnโt in a rush to prove anything.
The lineup behind him is substantial. David Clayton (Simply Red, Bowie, Depeche Mode) gives the keys warmth and lift; actor Ben Miles surprises on bass with playing thatโs steady and intuitive rather than showy. Martyn Barker and Chris Musto split drum duties, each bringing a different weight and swing, while Gary Barnacleโs saxophone appearances are exactly the kind that carry emotional punctuation instead of spotlight ambition. Ian Capleโs mixing leaves everything with air โ nothing is boxed in or glossed over.
The album opens with โAn Artistโs Tale,โ where thumping drums and shimmering guitars underline Palfreymanโs frank vocal delivery. Itโs a song about creative struggle, as he sings, โHow do I find the right space of time?โ It hits harder than most confessional โartist crisisโ writing because it feels lived-in.
By Track 6, โWhyโs It Taken Us So Long?โ the album softens into something more open and vulnerable. The instrumentation warms, and Palfreymanโs vocal tone relaxes. He sings of the time thatโs passing and the moments that pass us by forever. The chorus, โDonโt waste any time that could have made a start,โ lands as advice earned through mistakes, not something written for a greeting card. Itโs one of the emotional anchors of the record.
โYou Said It Soโ closes over gentle guitar and soft percussion, Palfreyman stretches out his phrasing, letting emotion sit in the space between words. โThere is no roof above the starsโ feels like the thesis of the album, where the world is wider than the places we trap ourselves, and there is still room to grow, even after the bruising.
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Review by: Naomi Joan