CD signed and personalised as requested.

Recorded Spring 2021 in a remote, rural studio in mid Wales, this self-produced affair was very much a collaboration with wunderkind engineer/musician Clovis Phillips. Mixing took place at Yellow Arch Studios in Sheffield with Michael’s long-time collaborator/ producer Colin Elliot (Richard Hawley, Jarvis Cocker).

Guests on this new album include Steve Nieve (keyboardist, Elvis Costello & The Attractions), Jeb Loy Nichols and British jazz trombonist Barnaby Dickinson, along with Michael’s wife and musical partner Lou Dalgleish, and their woodwind-playing daughter Mabel Dalgleish-King.

It features ten brand new MWK songs including two co-writes with old friends Peter Case and much missed touring partner and collaborator Jackie Leven.

The Struggle is a pure singer songwriter album, rooted in the late 60’s / early 70’s and inspired by artists and writers such as Mickey Newbury, Jesse Winchester, John Prine, Bobby Charles, Jim Ford, and early Van Morrison.

The CD version comes with a beautiful 16 page lyric booklet and stunning cover art by acclaimed Welsh painter Dan Llywelyn Hall

It will be released April 1st 2022 via Cherry Red Records.

Track Listing:

1 WEIGHT OF THE WORLD
2 SUGAR
3 THE HARDEST THING OF ALL
4 ANOTHER DYING DAY
5 THE FINAL REEL
6 THE OLD SOFT SHOE
7 VALERIE’S COMING HOME
8 ME AND FRANK
9 THEORY OF TRUTHMAKERS
10 WEIGHT OF THE WORLD (Ghostwriter Mix)

—

“What a return this is. Every single track is a masterpiece. A well nigh perfect package”
*****5/5 – Rock n Reel

“It’s downbeat, it’s sad, it’s thought provoking but at the same time it’s inspirational and just really, really beautiful”
***** 5/5 – Country Music People

“Intimately atmospheric ruminations. Sparse and Tender melodies”
******** 8/10 UnCut

“Richly-voiced emotional truths in lovely country-soul settings”
Mojo

“A love letter to Cosmic American Music. Sad Cowboy gear chocked full of tasteful rolling piano, mandolins and strings”
Shindig

“There were times on The Struggle I was reminded of both Jerry Jeff Walker and Gilbert O Sullivan, sometimes even at the same time”
***** 5/5 – Country Music People

“A genuine masterwork from the forerunner of Americana and British Country. A staggeringly good album”
Rocking Magpie

“Reminiscent of great artists like John Prine this is roots music at its best.”
***** 5/5 The Morning Star

“The Struggle is a testament to all involved with it’s vision realised so successfully. King offers integrity, creativity and humanity”
Lonesome Highway

“Another Dying Day is four minutes and twenty four seconds of sublimely executed despair”
Louder Than War

“The brief of emulating the country/blues/folk hybrid sound of late Sixties/early Seventies songwriters such as Dan Penn or Mickey Newbury is achieved with gusto and Michael is on top form vocally throughout the album”
Louder Than War

“Impeccably arranged, the instrumentation provides the perfect setting for this very personal set of songs”
Louder Than War

“A fine album, one that can sit proudly alongside anything else by this classy writer, singer and undervalued treasure.”
At The Barrier

“Another Dying Day is an unspeakably sad song, with echoes of the finest Glen Campbell singing Jimmy Webb; think Wichita Lineman crossed with Galveston.”
At The Barrier

“A gem of a record that stands tall in the singer/songwriter canon.”
Your Life In A Song

“Songwriting of the very highest quality.”
Fatea

“A gorgeous set of tunes rooted in the sounds of late 60’s and early 70’s singer songwriters with a bit of country and folk added to the mix, at times bringing to mind artists from John Prine, Townes Van Zandt and Jesse Winchester to Van Morrison, Harry Chapin and even Scott Walker.”
The Music Korner

“A hugely welcome return to the solo spotlight and I’d venture to suggest his finest album yet”
FR-UK (Folk Radio UK)

“Quite magnificent. A wonderfully accomplished album. Mature, thoughtful and very engaging”
Blabber ’n’ Smoke

“Each song seems to have an instrumental or vocal highlight to make it stand out from the rest of the album. The organ and piano on ‘The Hardest Thing of All’, the trombone on ‘The Old Soft Shoe’ and many others make each song its own little world, all linked together by King’s rich velvety voice.”
8/10******** Americana-UK

“Love at first listen. Wonderful ’60s and ’70s country-inspired collection from one of the UK’s best singer-songwriters.”
8/10******** Americana-UK

“An absolute delight. A collection of songwriting that justifies it being called ‘an art’”
W21

“In the act of listening we find the inspiration to help others, by song, by deed, by truth, we assist in the great cause of humanity; a valuable lesson taught by the mastery of music on display at the fingers of Michael Weston King”
********* 9/10 – Liverpool Sound and Vision

“King writes beautiful melodic songs, that balance on the edge of emotional and sentimental”
Haarlems Dagblad (Netherlands)

“A beautiful, mid-tempo-ballad album, often focused on the loss of affection between us all. Roy Orbison, Loudon Wainwright III, Willie Nelson and even John Denver permeate these songs”
Dischi Volanti (Italy)

“The Struggle packs an emotional wallop, thanks to King’s evocative lyrics and fine vocal work, which variously recalls artists ranging from Mickey Newbury to Tom Russell to Glen Campbell.”
Americana Highways

“British elegance, cowboy heart.”
Ruta 66 (Spain)

“One song has MWK at the feet of Willie & Townes, another has him in a downtown music cafe, a third might be about to break into a Wes Montgomery solo. Your country/soul man goes singer/songwriter-with-bonuses”
Bernard Zuel / Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)

“Songs from what you might call ‘the eternal 1970s of the mind”
Bernard Zuel / Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)

“King brings in tracks that draw from the sipping whiskey end of soul and country, some that balance anger and mournfulness with tenderness, others that wouldn’t be out of place on the bill at a singer/songwriter coffee shop on the lower east side, and then some from sources that predate them all but appear, refreshed, for a new generation”
Bernard Zuel / Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)

“It is to MWK’s credit as a songwriter that he always knows how to break down life’s big questions to the personal level of the common man”
Ullrich Maurer / Gaestliste (Germany)

“An absolutely adorable album from the elegant Englishman”
Egon Holstedt / I-Tromso (Norway)