Colin Hay Now And The Evermore LP (Blue Vinyl) (Pre-owned, VG+)

Possessing one of the most distinctive and recognizable voices on the planet, former Men At Work frontman Colin Hay faces down struggle, loss and the existential questions about mortality on Now And The Evermore, his first collection of new material since the 2016 release of Fierce Mercy.

Written and recorded in Hay's adopted hometown of Los Angeles and at Compass Sound Studio in Nashville, the collection is a defiantly joyful celebration of life and love, one that insists on finding silver linings and reasons to smile through the challenges of recent times. That's not to say the record deludes itself about the realities of the modern world, but rather that it consistently chooses to respond to pain with beauty and doubt with wonder.

The music on the new album brims with fanciful melodies and lush orchestration. Hay's performances are likewise animated and full of life, drawing on vintage pop charm, pub rock muscle, and folk sincerity to forge a sound that's at once playful and profound, clever and compassionate, whimsical and earnest.

Says Hay, "The first thing you'll hear on Now And The Evermore is a drum fill played by Ringo Starr. This is terribly exciting, because for me growing up, there was The Beatles, and then there was everybody else. Some days I think we're still trying to make something that's as close as possible to 'Rubber Soul', when their creative wellspring was starting to bubble over. With this new record, I have tried to make it sound as beautiful as I could. Sometimes beauty hurts, but it's a good pain."

Hay's reputation as a gifted singer and songwriter is well established.

Hay is the consummate songwriter, who's only gotten better and better with age.

Hay has been attracting new fans with gentle, ruminative acoustic songs.