GRAHAM BROWN 

Although it’s common for artists to improve with age, it’s rare when they do it in a manner that seems to turn back the hands of time. That’s precisely the feeling one gets when listening to Outside Within, the 14th album by Canadian singer/songwriter/guitarist Graham Brown.

Working once again with his longtime electric band—guitarist/keyboardist Rob Blackburn, bassist John Werner and drummer Mark Gruft—after taking an acoustic detour on 2023’s aptly titled Solo, the Vancouver-based Brown cranked up his amp and honed his writing focus on Outside Within, a 12-song collection crackling with an inspiring energy that is most welcome at this moment in history.

There’s no better example of this than “Courage Comes,” a taut rocker in the Tom Petty tradition, containing a message to stay strong in the face of adversity, and complemented by one of Brown’s trademark mind-melting solos. As on previous Graham Brown Band albums, it was all captured live in the studio, this time at Hipposonic in Vancouver where the bulk of Outside Within was remarkably laid down in a single Saturday afternoon.