There are very few artists who would have the fortitude – the arrogance, even – of opening an album with 90 seconds of mumbled 12-bar blues, abruptly halting and announcing: “That’s all I got!”
Then again, when you’re the man who cannot be killed by conventional weapons, there’s a bit more room to do as you please.
Keith Richards hasn’t made a solo album since 1992’s Main Offender, but the 71-year-old Stone isn’t the kind to kick up a fuss over the matter. Crosseyed Heart gently idles by in its own way. The record feels like a lazy jam session with a handful of friends – who, collectively known as the X-Pensive Winos, have appeared on Richards’ two previous releases. Knowing that as the clear aesthetic adds charm to the meandering blues twiddle, although it grows tiresome across its near hour-long runtime. Welcome distractions arrive in the form of a smoky take on Leadbelly standard ‘Goodnight Irene’, lead single ‘Trouble’ and a sultry Norah Jones cameo on ‘Illusion’.
Keef is clearly having fun on Crosseyed Heart, and perhaps he’s allowed to be self-serving after all this time. Even so, the album is almost exclusively a fans-only affair.
