For many music fans, John Squire will never be forgiven for breaking up the Stone Roses. That's more than a little unfair, for while his solo career is never going to set the world alight the way the Roses did, it's worth a lot more attention than most critics are prepared to give it. Marshall's House is clear evidence that the reclusive Mancunian hasn't lost it just yet, an absorbing collection of sturdy country-rock that makes up for in sheer passion what it lacks in originality. Each song is named after a painting by the Depression-era artist Edward Hopper; for example the title track is inspired by Hopper's depiction of a bleak house with blacked-out windows and describes a torrid night when Squire thought he was dying. His throaty voice is often startlingly reminiscent of Bob Dylan, but the lyrical vision is all his own - and it's one that's still well worth hearing.
