James Dean Bradfield - 'An English Gentleman' (Columbia) Released 25/09/06

James Dean Bradfield has been busy concocting a heady mix of pop-rock tracks for his debut album while the Manic’s take a break.  You could be fooled that ‘An English Gentleman’ signals the return of the Preachers with Bradfields unmistakable ‘aaah aaah aaahs’ and a track dedicated to their late publicist Philip Hall.  The pleasant thing about Bradfield’s solo work however is that he’s not tried to go too far from a winning formula.  Bradfield has chosen to churn out 3 minute crackers as opposed to trying his hand at something more obscure and on the evidence of ‘An English Gentleman’ he’s making the right choice.