Diamond Days

Diamond Days may be his first solo album in four years but Brooks Williams is no slouch. Since 2020’s Work My Claim he’s released two albums with fiddler Aaron Catlow, Fortune by Design with banjoist Dan Walsh and a collection of Don Everly songs with late Scottish singer-songwriter Rab Noakes (Noakes’ last recording before his death in 2022.)

Originally from Georgia, US, now resident in Cambridge, UK, Williams specialises in nifty acoustic guitar, warm vocals and solid songs, drawing on Americana, country and blues. After so many collaborations, this work is solo as can be – with no backing musicians or fancy effects. Williams gives Dylan’s ‘Nettie Moore’ a dusting down, revealing it to be a surprisingly jaunty folk song. ‘On the Island’ could almost be a music-hall song – a singalong waltz with thoughtful lyrics while ‘Doing Fine’ (a line from which gives the album its title) could be an Everly Brothers song. A pleasing album from an indefatigable troubadour.