Photo Credit: Conor Gault
Glaswegian singer-songwriter Dylan John Thomas has released his second album Nothing Here Worth Taking. The album was recorded at Magic Box Studios with Scotty Anderson, who has also worked alongside another fast-rising Scottish act in The Snuts.
The theme of the album is laid down immediately, with a trumpet solo for opener and title track Nothing Here Worth Taking, with Dylan on top form with the vocals. Next up is Heaven Knows You’re Lonely, where Dylan shows off his amazing guitar picking skills. The chorus will go down well on his upcoming tour: “Heaven knows you’re lonely/and you’re looking in the wrong place/if it’s love that you want babe.” Dylan may have begun his career as a solo artist standing on the stage with an acoustic guitar, but now he has transformed this into a full band with keys and trumpet, helping to create an fuller sound on this album. The Bridge opens with a piano solo, before Dylan unleashes his thick, Glaswegian accent onto the listener, while next track Got You On My Mind was the first single release from Nothing Here Worth Taking – we were lucky enough to hear this one live during Dylan’s sets at TRNSMT in June and Leeds Festival in August. He makes use of his newly developed banjo skills, an instrument he picked up only a few years ago – this one is a right crowd pleaser with the trumpet also being a standout, it is one of the finest tracks on the album and also such an easy one for the crowd to sing along to. There’s a nostalgic 1960s feel around the song too, love these lines “In my head, a love I can’t forget/breaking bread and turning rivers red/hear your night call”.
Call It A Day has an infectious whistle that will stick in your head and Dining With The Devil Next Door has some fine, collective musicianship to tap along to. Come And Get It will go down so well live and once again Dylan’s songwriting abilities come to the fore: “I know you want it/ so come and get it/ and in the morning I will forget it” being just one example. The banjo makes a return for Thinking About You, as the song opens with the lines “I’ve been thinking about you baby/got that look in your eyes lately.” There seems to be a level of maturity on this album, which follows on well from his 2024 self-titled debut. For sure the support slots with Noel Gallagher, Sam Fender and Gerry Cinnamon to name a few gave Dylan a big help on the way up, but he is now out on his own producing music that touches the soul.
As we move towards the end of the ten-track album Sequel slows things right down, and All The Days Of My Life brings Nothing Here Worth Taking to a pleasant end – this album is worthy of a high debut on the UK Album Chart. Dylan heads out on a UK & Ireland tour in December and is well worth checking out – in the meantime, I’m away for another listen to Nothing Here Worth Taking.
9/10
Standout Tracks: Nothing Here Worth Taking, Heaven Knows You’re Lonely, Got You On My Mind
For Fans Of: Gerry Cinnamon, The Snuts, Jamie Webster
Written by: Alan Brown
