This is the debut album from Reverend and the Makers guitarist/bassist and co-songwriter, who’s also performed with Arctic Monkeys members Matt Helders and Alex Turner, and despite being a prolific performer with Reverend, and touring the world, it’s taken him about 10 years to get round to making his debut.

Like other Steel City musical Royalty Richard Hawley, Cosens is finally stepping out into the limelight in his own right, and Fortunes Favour, lands on April 9th and is an absolutely brilliant and assured debut.

The ten tracks here showcase both Cosens songwriting talent and his great vocals and is a mature and intelligent piece of work.

From the widescreen confessional opener of Running On Empty, Cosens pours his heart and soul into the lyrics, whilst the guitar sound and the string drenched production oozes class, and the late-night intimacy of the production throughout the album really does Cosens songwriting justice.

Majestic and elegant tracks like The River have echoes of the wistful South Yorkshire blues as popularised by Richard Hawley, and it’s that mature and honest songwriting that runs through this record like the Sheaf runs through the heart of the steel city.

Ballads like Last to Know, where Ed’s voice is to the fore with a beautiful string accompaniment that blends perfectly with his superb guitar work.

Ed is an immensely talented performer, and this covers all bases from the brilliant title track, underpinned by a great beat and some Beatlesque guitar parts, and is one of those tracks that just builds and builds.

In fact, there’s no bad track on here, and with the beauty of pieces like The Pantomime Ed has a real knack for observational songwriting and has turned in an album of raw beauty and style.

Sheffield is well known for its individual songwriters who’ve always shone and done things differently from the norm, and it’s great to add Ed’s name to the list of talented solo performers and stepping out of the comfort of a band like Reverend and the Makers might be seen in some quarters as a brave move, however with songs like these and the brilliance of this debut, Cosens as a writer and performer is on a par with local writers like Richard Hawley, Alex Turner or Jarvis Cocker.

This is one of the finest debut albums I’ve heard for such a long time and is an album I keep coming back to.

Track listing

1. Running on Empty
2. If
3. The River
4. Last to Know
5. Fortune’s Favour
6. Madeleine
7. Lovers Blues
8. On The Run
9. The Pantomime
10. Come on In

Fortunes Favour is available from: Fortunes Favour – CD – Ed Cosens (musicglue.com)