Don't look too far afield! A good song is already more than enough. Many good songs is even better. Preferably with a voice like that of Jon Allen, a British thirty-something who instantly became a '4* CD of the Week' in De Morgen with his second album 'Sweet Defeat'. So we're not looking any further and just quote Bart Steenhaut:
'No artist would consider it a bonus to be depicted by the British media as the new Rod Stewart but in the case of Jon Allen there's something to be said for it. Allen deals in a warm, nostalgic sound and possesses the right sort of sandpaper vocals. He reminds you how good Stewart – now as Las Vegas as the casinos on the Strip – himself once was, in his early years.
Allen deals in traditional, rather simply structured songs and doesn't allow himself to be seduced by forced novelties or far-fetched twists. Instead he opts for a warm, informal sound in which his fine, raw voice is the focal point. By the way, we've touched upon his biggest weapon there. Allen could sing the ingredients of a slice of plum pudding and he'd still manage to strike a chord with his listeners. There's a melancholy in his coarse voice that already sticks with you, right from the start, and results in you not filing the album away after the first listen.
The references - Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Jackson Browne – are obvious and in 'Think Of You', the missing link between 'Handbags & Gladrags' and 'Whiter Shade Of Pale, you'd swear that you can hear – there he is then - the young Rod Stewart singing.'

Apart from that, you may also be reminded of the best of JJ Cale, Eric Clapton, Leo Sayer, even Paolo Nutini… and in the UK our man has also accompanied The Straits as 'support'!
Jon Allen will also be arriving with band in the ABClub. All together now: 'Allen!'