THE WORLD'S BEST NEW MUSIC

Led by British songwriter Alex Ellis, UK-based Americana band Our Man in the Field have built a solid reputation almost entirely through relentless touring and word of mouth - more than 150 shows in the last year alone – and a catalogue of songs from a pair of previous albums, The Company Of Strangers (2020, remixed 2024) and Gold On The Horizon (2023).

Their third full length, Silverado captures a band operating at a new level creatively and sonically. The record blends widescreen storytelling, late-night soul, broken highway romance and relatable human songwriting into something that feels both timeless and strangely modern. Recorded at Mark Knopfler’s British Grove Studios and produced by Guy Fletcher, this is a concept album of sorts, centred around a fictional radio station - Radio Free Silverado - broadcasting songs, stories, visuals, live sessions and transmissions from another universe, complete with echoes of distant AM stations, motel lights, dashboard glow and voices crackling through static somewhere deep in the night.

Silverado is ultimately viewed through the eyes of an outsider: from a British perspective, looking across the Atlantic at the mythology, beauty and fractures of America itself. It’s a familiar scenario for UK artists that echoes the Beatles’ “invasion” - digesting and returning to its source, an entire musical culture - or Van Morrison’s reminiscences in his song “On Hyndford Street,” of “reading Mr. Jelly Roll and Big Bill Broonzy / And "Really The Blues" by Mezz Mezzrow / And "Dharma Bums" by Jack Kerouac / Over and over again.”

Silverado’s contemporary brand of Americana avoids cheesy nostalgia with a combination of vocal prowess – a voice that draws only complimentary comparisons, to the likes of David Gray, Glen Hansard, Damien Rice, Ray LaMontagne – and the imaginative songwriting chops to match.  The quality of musicians that are assembled around Ellis matches the ambition of the project: Ethan Johns (Drums / Guitar / Production); Sonny Landreth (Slide Guitar / Electric Guitar); P.P. Arnold (Backing Vocals / Vocals); Robbie McIntosh (Guitar / Pedal Steel Guitar); Nick Pini (Bass / Double Bass); Will Fry (Percussion); Guy Fletcher (Producer, Hammond, Synths, Keyboards, Strings), all contributing to a record that feels expansive without ever losing emotional intimacy.