Espresso Logic

A "refined, elegant, rock style" characterizes the record, which continues Rea's '90s run of "commercially successful and critically acclaimed albums".[2][3] A review in Guitar Player finds that "Rea immediately declares his multi-ethnic impulses", as the title track begins with his "languidly atmospheric slide guitar shimmering like the Pacific Ocean under a full Oahu moon. Then Davy Spillane's mournful Uillean pipes inject Celtic melancholy, and the two instruments interweave throughout the track, accompanied by a Brazilian-inflected tribal rhythm, until they are nearly indistinguishable from one another."[4] Rea recorded the album using the two '62 Fender Stratocasters, plugged into a Fender piggyback amp, "that he's relied on for more than a decade", and he uses a glass slide, rather than a brass one. "From working with Irish pipers, I've adopted this technique of banging the slide onto the harmonic. So I've had to stop using the brass, because I've only got one more refret on my pink Strat. I've played it so hard that I don't think there's gonna be any wood left," he ruefully acknowledges.

All songs written by Chris Rea.

• Chris Rea – vocals, organ, guitars, slide guitar, steel guitar
• Max Middleton – acoustic piano, keyboards
• Robert Ahwai – guitars
• Sylvin Marc – bass
• Martin Ditcham – drums, percussion
• Andy Fairweather-Low – handclaps
• Davy Spillane – Uilleann pipes
• Pete Beachill – trombone
• Dave Stewart – trombone
• Elton John – lead vocals on "If You Were Me"
• Val Chalmers – backing vocals
• Linda Taylor – backing vocals
• Emma Whittle – backing vocals