“Growing Peaches in Oxfordshire” – Nik Barrell

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Nik Barrell scrollerWell, it’s an interesting idea, creating an album filled with only cheerful upbeat songs. Not only that, but Nik Barrell decided to record the entire album in one session using only acoustic instruments and no drums. That sounds like a pretty hard sell in world where the term singer-songwriter often means purveyor of melancholy confessionals, so  how successful is Nik Barrell in realising his vision? Well I guess that depends on the point of view of the listener; if you don’t share his vision and you do like a bit of musical misery, then it’s probably not for you. 

Within the limitations he’s set himself, the album works really well. There are slow songs, uptempo songs, the odd one in waltz time and even the raucous “New Orleans” praising the Big Easy in comparison with other American cities. The band, and particularly the female singers, create some sumptuous settings for the songs. And the songs themselves are great musically but the pessimist or fatalist in me finds the relentless cheerfulness just a little bit cloying, particularly on the final song “People are Good”. In fairness to Nik he stuck to his vision and delivered an album full of upbeat songs and if that’s your thing, you’ll probably love it. 

“Growing Peaches in Oxfordshire” is out on Friday July 7.

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