I’ve been listening a bit to Weyes Blood (pronounced ‘Wize Blood’ apparently) recently. The nom de guerre of one Natalie Laura Mering, 35, the album I have is very much rooted in the 70s Laurel Canyon type of sound, although with a modern twist. I quite like it.

This type of stuff always goes down well with music reviewers, many of whom, I suspect, are of similar age to me, mostly male, and are happy to latch on to something that’s, well, got some recognisable roots showing but is a younger varietal like Natalie.

What about those of us still toiling in the same vineyard who, through our advancing years, were around to hear some of this stuff first time round? Are they putting new wine in old bottles, or just stuck in the same old groove?

The latter accusation couldn’t be levelled at Norman Lamont, who, in the course of his long musical career, has tried a number of different musical styles. However ‘Turn,’ his latest release with his band, the Heaven Sent, to some extent doubles down on Sixties and Seventies influences to produce a remarkably coherent whole.

Full disclosure, by the way: Norman is a good friend and musical mentor to me, who even now is working on remixing one of the songs for my next album. However, I was a fan of his before we really got to know each other, in case that makes me sound less biased.

So to ‘Turn.’ The title track, of course, has obvious resonances with the song the Byrds popularised, but Lamont’s own lyrics shine through. ‘Keep your innocence in mind…’ what a beautiful line for a man in his (I’m sure he wouldn’t mind me saying) seventh decade on this troubled planet.

Other tracks reference the Beatles, most notably ‘She Wants Out,’ which imagines the couple who came together after ‘She Loves You’ six months on; a relationship that flared like a firework rather than burning slowly. ‘What Use Is That‘ also has a Fab Fourish chord progression.

Elsewhere, ‘Living Water‘ is a highlight for me, a fast-medium folk-rock tune which, at least for me, has a Dylanesque feel lyrically. Another is the strong finishing track, ‘Call Back Fall Back,’ in which Norman’s anguished vocal has something of the quality of Jagger’s singing on something like ‘Angie.’

It almost goes without saying that the production values and musicianship from Norman and the rest of the band are top drawer. So, whilst it’s always good for all of us to be exposed to new, young artists, I commend Mr Lamont to you, with all his accumulated years of musical and lyrical wisdom. Some wines mature with age.