‘Into the Light’ is the second John Williams Syndicate album. My only minor reservation about the first album ‘Out of Darkness’ (both titles inspired by the motto of his hometown, Wolverhampton) was that with so many guest performers it lacked a little bit of cohesion. That certainly doesn’t apply to ‘Into the Light’. There’s still a long list of guest performers but John has conjured up a unity for the album with a sixties feel combined with twenty-first century production techniques that makes it feel simultaneously contemporary and nostalgic, drawing on all of his previous experience as record plugger, label manager, head of A&R, producer, songwriter and recording artist.
For the second album, John has stuck with the idea of combining established artists with relative newcomers to the business. There are guest vocals from the legendary Petula Clarke, Claudia Brücken, Nicki Leighton-Thomas and John Moore (of Jesus & Mary Chain and Black Box Recorder fame) while the relative newcomers and under the radar guests are represented by Natasha Panas, rapper/singer Slicko and Isabella Coulstock (currently supporting The Who after a tour supporting Jools Holland). John blends all of these elements together seamlessly with his arrangements and production.
Of the ten tracks on ‘Into the Light’, there isn’t one that has the finger even hovering over the skip button and they work beautifully together, however I do have to mention a few of my own personal highlights. ’You’re My Number One’ works perfectly on all levels; it’s a list song packed with sixties and seventies references driven along by an incredibly catchy guitar hook and a Nicki Leighton-Thomas vocal at the lower end of her range that evokes Marianne Faithfull from her gravelly ‘Broken English’ incarnation. ‘In My Dreams’ is also full of musical and lyrical historical references. Petula Clarke shines vocally on ‘Luminescent’, which is driven along by a simple repeated piano figure, while Claudia Brücken does the same on the Portishead-influenced ‘As Long As You are there for Me’ which builds gradually from a drum pattern and guitar feedback before finishing on stripped-back piano and vocal. ‘I Want to Lose Myself in You’ is a bit of fun that opens with an organ intro that hints at Vanity Fare’s ‘Hitchin’ a Ride’ and maybe ‘I’m Always Touched by your Presence Dear’. Just imagine Blondie with a banjo.
It’s also great to see that John, as he did with ‘Out of Darkness’, is bucking the streaming/download trend. The CD version of this album comes with sumptuous packaging that enhances the musical experience. ‘Into the Light’ succeeds in the same way that St Etienne did in the nineties by capturing the mood and feel of an earlier while era using contemporary production techniques. It’s a tricky one to get right, but this album aces it.
‘Into the Light’ is released on Friday July 28th on Wulfrun Records (Wulfrun2).
Here’s the video for ‘In the Morning Sun’:
