Miles Kane

Colour of the Trap

Sony

Miles Kane is best known as one half of The Last Shadow Puppets, who in turn are best known for being the side-project of Alex Turner (The Arctic Monkeys). Kane has walked away from his band, The Rascals, to launch a solo career.

Fans of the Shadow Puppets record will find plenty to like here. It’s never too cute but often very cosy – in fact the opener, Come Closer, has so much of a hint of T-Rex about it you’d be forgiven for thinking a Gallagher brother was on co-plagiarising duties.

Later, with My Fantasy, Kane manages to combine a T-Rex feel with another Gallagher staple: traces of John Lennon’s voice. And on this album goes. For a debut solo album it’s sharp and well-played and easy to like.

The downside is you never get at all close to believing that any of this comes from Miles Kane himself; or that his personality is anywhere near any of the tunes. It’s still worth a listen – because he’s a very clever song-lifter – imbibing just enough of himself perhaps to seem enigmatic and to not be found out as just a pop-song rewriter rather than a pop songwriter.