Liverpudlian musician Rob Clarke keeps melodic pop music alive on his new album Opiope, ten songs that are both fresh and timeless. Backed by his mates from The Wooltones he leads the listener through early rock 'n' roll, 60s psychedelic pop and 80s indie, always keeping a firm grip with one hand on the steering wheel and pointing the other one to the subjects he is singing about. Generally speaking life has been treating him not that bad, with some serious bumps along the way, giving him the inspiration and lyrical depth to write songs that dig deep, even when he sings about a very mundane thing like having lunch and shuffling papers (At The Office).
Clarke is a craftsman, with a pretty good ear for harmonies plus the knowledge when a song needs a full-blown arrangement (Everything That's Good) or a stripped down approach - he turned down his voice to a whisper for the album's title track. It was a good choice to end the album with a cover, Fran Ashcroft's Blue Over You, to alert listeners to the fact that he is not the only current Scouser who can spin an ace tune.
