If U2 had gotten together with Bruce Springsteen during their Joshua Tree period there is every chance they would have come up with a record as hauntingly beautiful as this one. But they didn't, and as such it has fallen to Texan duo Steve and Sherilyn Collins, aka Deadman.

The album's opening song, When The Music's Not Forgotten, is a classic piece of country rock/Americana, lilting and bittersweet, the Collins' vocal harmonies working the song to full effect, as does the beautiful steel pedal guitar accompaniment. With an air of Gram Parsons and Calexico about them, Deadman take the country genre and sharpen up the edges, as on the slow measure of The Monsters Of Goya or the uplifting Brother John. It comes as a welcome relief to the usual modern country fare and as such make no mistake; this is an album of considerable substance.