This has been incredibly difficult to narrow down; these are all albums I’ve reviewed here this year. I got down to nine and then it started to get tough (and I started to worry about offending friends). So there are no apologies for having a few honourable mentions at the end of this piece. As always, in no particular order:
“For All Our Sins” – Sound of the Sirens – I’ve been a fan since the first time I saw them. They’ve been building a reputation and a fanbase for a few years now, self-releasing a couple of EPs and an album but this one was backed by a recording deal which meant that Abbe Martin and Hannah Wood were able to move beyond their classic live sound of guitars (and mandolin), foot percussion and stunning harmonies to introduce keyboards, choirs and even a bit of psychedelia. At the album launch party, Jeremy Vine tweeted live footage of Abbe and Hannah and even played the lead track “Smokescreen” on his Radio 2 show the next day. Give it a listen here.
“Street Rituals” – Stone Foundation – This is another band that I’ve been following for a few years now and marvelling at the way their talent and work ethic has taken them to the top of the vinyl charts in 2017. This album is the best so far (although “To Find the Spirit” and “A Life Unlimited” are bloody good as well) and having Paul Weller as producer and contributor didn’t do any harm either. The album harks back to the socially-conscious soul albums of the early seventies turned out by Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Curtis Mayfield and has the band pinning their political hearts firmly to their sleeves. And I may have mentioned that they are an absolutely lovely bunch of people.
“Gold Rush” – Hannah Aldridge – This is Hannah’s second album; crowd-funded and featuring songs she’s been working and collaborating on with various writers for a few years. How do you categorise Hannah’s music? Well, the easy answer is Americana, but that’s just a marketing tool these days (same as ‘blues’ really, with or without an upper-case B). The last time I interviewed Hannah, she was favouring ‘Southern rock’, hinting at Tom Petty, although this album has a distinct feel of the Stones “Sticky Fingers” on the rock songs. But put the rockers to one side and you have two absolutely beautiful melancholy slow songs, the title track and “Living on Lonely”. Both of those songs are lyrically intense and melodically gorgeous and that’s a combination I can never resist. Hannah’s going to be back in the UK next year; you really should make the effort to go out and see her.
“A Girl in Teen City” – Oh Susanna – I loved this album from the very first listen; it’s built around the theme of growing up in Vancouver in the eighties. It’s poetic, it’s melodic and it’s humorous, but most of all it’s human. It’s the story of a real person, Suzie Ungerleider, and her adolescence, with references to the music of the era and so much more; the “American Graffiti” style of “Thunderbird” and the Springsteenesque widescreen of “My Old Vancouver”. Honestly, my words can’t do it justice, you should really listen to it for yourself.
“Unfinished Business” – Paul Brady – If you survive as a musician for over fifty years, you’re doing something right. In Paul Brady’s case, he’s doing a lot of things right. He’s still writing superb songs, still picking good covers and he’s still surrounding himself with top-flight musicians who know how to sell a song without overdoing it. This is an album that says ‘if you’re good enough, you’re young enough’. All the experience is there and it all sounds so deceptively effortless. Make some time to listen to it over the holiday.
And those honourable mentions? How about “The Penny Collector” – Carrie Elkin, “Mockingbird Soul” – Brigitte DeMeyer and Will Kimbrough, “Static in the Wires” – Martin Harley and Daniel Kimbro and “Tennessee Night” – Ed Dupas.
As good as it is to hear music from new artists, there’s something very satisfying about a new album from someone who’s been around for a while. In the case of Paul Brady, ‘around for a while’ is understating slightly. At the age of seventy and with a career in music spanning over fifty years, he’s someone who knows a thing or two about writing a great song and “Unfinished Business” is exactly the album you would expect from an artist with Paul Brady’s reputation and experience. There are eleven songs: two are interpretations of traditional songs and nine originals which are co-writes with either Paul Muldoon, Sharon Vaughn or Ralph Murphy. It’s a thoroughbred of an album; perfectly proportioned and without an ounce of flab. It’s all about delivering the best possible interpretation of every song.
What about the raw material, the songs? Well, Paul Brady isn’t resting on his laurels; he’d probably get vertigo if he did. The nine originals here are beautifully crafted pieces of work. I hesitate to use the phrase ‘songwriters’ songwriter’ because of its elitist implications, but Paul Brady’s a master craftsman whose work satisfies the professionals and the fans alike as he glides effortlessly across styles on this deceptively simple but gloriously effective album. And, as if that wasn’t enough, he still has a powerful soulful voice as well.
The album begins with the title track, and it’s a perfect piece of understatement with some delicate jazzy piano, upright bass and gorgeous harmonies in the chorus with a romantic message. The equally enchanting “Once In a Lifetime” towards the end of the album is in a similar vein, with the addition of some plaintive steel; you won’t hear a better pair of love songs on an album this year.
But it’s not all love songs on “Unfinished Business”; “I Love You But You Love Him” is a funky take on the ‘opposites attract’ theme, “Maybe Tomorrow” is Celtic-tinged rock while “Say You Don’t Mean” is a pulsing, erudite putdown of a bystander critic. The originals are every bit as good as you would expect from Paul Brady, while the two traditional songs are given fairly modern musical settings, particularly the album’s closer, “Lord Thomas & Lady Ellender” which Paul has apparently been playing live for fifty years.
One word – superb.
“Unfinished Business” is released on Friday September 8 on Proper Records.
