ROBERTA SMITH makes a speedy return with a new EP, Humdrum Five, a set of five old and new songs recorded, by and large, in her home studio. The epithet “boho” is frequently applied to Roberta but what does that actually mean? Musically it may indicate an affinity with Joni Mitchell or Suzanne Vega but Roberta sounds like neither of them really apart from a certain freedom in her songwriting. The unkind critic might just refer to her as an old hippie.
The first two tracks make up the record’s title. ‘Humdrum’ is just that as Roberta seems to contemplate not feeling bothered to do anything significant. The song is simply arranged with just acoustic guitar and claves (briefly) under her voice. It might have a soul sister in ‘The Secretary Song’ which appears later. ‘Five’ is a reflection on the occurrence of the number in her life but…the chorus complains of the cold and the thinness of the air and elsewhere Roberta talks about not being a carbon-based life-form but one based on chrome. Probably boho.
Roberta does everything on the record except for bass and drums which are played by producer Aeron Z Jones but his contributions are very understated. ‘Tom, Tom The Piper’s Song’ is a pretty, clever (and pretty clever) song harking back to the nursery rhyme. Roberta’s violin plays a major role. To close, ‘Someone Else’s Child’ is one of the newer songs and the longest, featuring bells alongside acoustic guitar. It’s beautifully constructed.
https://www.robertasmithsongs.com/
Every year, DAN WHITEHOUSE flies to Japan to spend 90 days with his son, arriving in mid-December and staying until mid-March, just long enough to celebrate his son’s birthday. A tender piano ballad, recorded live with jazz pianist David O’Brien, from his upcoming album, wrote ‘Every Brick’ (Want To Know Records) taps into the emotional tenor of those reunions and returns and his hope’s for his future as he sings “I hope that someday you will see the light / and find the house that all this built / it’s got your name engraved on every brick / and you can be yourself / whatever the hell that is”, adding “I refuse to hold you back. I will watch / I will wait”.
www.danwhitehouse.com
JON BICKLEY AND THE INVISIBLE FOLK CLUB BAND issues ‘And The Choir Still Sings Amazing Grace’ from Grace Will Lead Me Home as a single. It’s a deep reflection on the dichotomy of singing a song written by a slave owner as a hymn of praise while many people still live in conditions that his slaves would recognise. “I’m no slave, but I’m too poor to be free” is just one of the killer lines.
www.invisiblefolk.com
Gently fingerpicked with warm and soulful breathy and soaring male (Florian Meyer) and female (Lyra Meyer) vocals, hailing from Zurich FLORIAN AND THE BETTER HAND self-release the absolutely gorgeous ‘Little Song’ about facing fear with the help of something or someone comforting and loyal. One of the year’s best singles.
open.spotify.com/artist/6gZZarM9wFGgXaEB2TQ2vD
You may be aware that there is a campaign to restore Dick Gaughan’s musical rights to their creator, To this end, JOHN REED has released a single, ‘The Eyes Of Rutherglen And Leith’, in support. The title refers to the two places where the young Gaughan lived (he was actually born in Glasgow) and shaped his world view. Reed was so moved that he wrote and recorded the song within ninety minutes of hearing about the campaign and it might be said that the politics of the lyrics are of greater import than the music – just John and his guitar – being an attack on all the ills that Gaughan saw in the country.
https://www.johnreedmusic.com/
Speaking of Leith, it’s the home town of LYNDS who releases a single, ‘State Of Stability’, about living with bi-polar disorder. It’s short, pained and lo-fi; pared back in the extreme and not an easy listen but an important song, nevertheless.
https://www.tiktok.com/@lyndsadamsmusic
Recorded during the sessions for ‘Love It Is A Killing Thing’ but ultimately not fitting with its concept of reimagined traditional folk songs, MAZ O’CONNOR now releases the self-penned ‘Just A Little Game To Play’ (Restless Head Records) as a standalone singles Featuring Zak Hobbs on guitar and Beth Porter on cello, it evokes the intimacy of 1960s and 70s folk music with echoes of Janis Ian in its reflections on girlhood, love and disillusionment, as she sings the bittersweet “when I was a young girl / I dreamed in honied skies…Now years fly by like starlings / but sorrows stay behind / If I risked another lover / then I would risk my mind”.
www.mazoconnor.com
Originally a track from their album, Things Found In Books, YVONNE LYON AND BOO HEWERDINE release a remixed version of ‘Salvador Dali And Me’ as a single. It’s based on piano with Yvonne taking the lead and is lavishly washed with strings. Boo takes over for the B-side, ‘Down By The Harbour’, initially a rather more down-to-earth number. “The Antonine Wall means nothing at all” – agreed.
https://www.yvonnelyonmusic.com/
Taken from her new EP, HANNAH SCOTT reflects back on her experience of renting in London with ‘Sitting In The Dark’, cast in a folk rock vein the song, the vocals recorded in a makeshift wardrobe, was inspired by the final weeks spent in a studio flat in Ealing without working lights despite a six-figure annual rental, and highlights the underlying issues many face living in flats riddled with, as she sings, mould and damp while rents continue to soar.
www.hannahscott.co.uk
From her new album, Supernatural, BRÓNA MCVITTIE releases ‘Humpy’, an intriguing blend of Irish folklore with subtle electronica which serves to emphasise the mystic nature of both the story and the song. “Be careful what you wish for” is advice we should all take to heart. The song is based on the legend of Knockgrafton and is a warning not to mess with fairy music.
https://bronamcvittie.com
Fragile banjo backs ‘The Button’, the new single by Vermont singer/songwriter JASON BAKER. It puts us in the mind of a drone pilot who drops his bombs and then goes home to his wife and kids. What isn’t apparent is that the man is secretly haunted by the memory of what he does. Perhaps we shouldn’t judge him too harshly.
http://jbakervt.com/
After many years in the music business, mostly in bands and including a spell in Australia PETER DAVID WINCKLES finally releases his debut EP and single, ‘Now Was In My Past’. It’s a richly accompanied but essentially simple song about accidentally phoning someone and immediately regretting it.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61589110718411
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