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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mmmnice.,
By
This review is from: The Light Programme (Audio CD)
For those of you familiar with Martin Newell's music may find the sound of this album initially to be a bit of a departure from the usual crisp, janglesome, guitar-based pop for which Newell is so rightly admired by those who know. From the cover and the title onwards it looks as if the Wildman Of Wivenhoe is in easy-listening, casual mode. Certainly there's been a lot of talk on the Newell website forum (www.martinnewell.co.uk) on the difference - or not - in musical direction of this album. Has Martin forsaken his beloved Rock? Has he in fact - gasp!- 'gone jazz'? Nah! What we have here is a classy pop album. Jazzy, sure, for being heavier on the keyboards than it is on guitar and there's a looser, swinging feel to the tracks thanks to a wonderful rhythm section. But anyone who enjoyed, say, 'Straight To You, Boy' on The Greatest Living Englishman will know that Martin Newell is no stranger to what George Harrison called "the posh chords": jazzy clusters of notes that can sound by turns sly, smooth or sentimental, without ever ladling on the syrup. Here, 'Rosebay Railway' in particular has a beautiful, autumnal feel to it within 10 seconds, 'Synergy' is a great 'lost' 1920s Tin Pan Alley song, and the breezy shuffle of 'Venus Of The Essoldo' has a brisk, not-entirely-hidden Berlin cabaret decadence (albeit closer to home!).
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review) 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a (refreshing) change of pace for Martin,
By Jim Molnar - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Light Programme (Audio CD)
Martin is doing a Joe Jackson type of thing at least some of the time here, having assembled a small combo of cooperative cohorts who serviceably accompany his varied riffings on archetypal pop. In this outing, some of the hyper-English overtones are doffed for a more Tin Pan Alley kind of approach. His lyrics are a bit more disjointed than usual, but the music is full of fun tone clusters and often glows with infectious grooves quite different from his usual marches and merseybeats.
"Blackout" sets the mood with a simple shuffle, introducing us to the new style, with a fun topic but impersonal words. "Trinity Square" is a throwback to Martin at his most British, with a Gilbert O'Sullivan-ness by way of Roy Wood lo-fi. Unlike the other tracks, it does not feature the band. The wistful ballad "Jacqui" is a heartfelt ode to the joys as they are of middle-aged relationships. "My Lost Weekend" blues-es it up with chromatic flourishes and a smoothly deft melody. "Sun Over the Yard Arm" is the first of a pair of vamp-based pieces ("Sparkletown" is the other) that tread in "Miss Van Houten's Coffee Shop" territory. As usual Martin wears his beginning-with-the-letter-B influences on his sleeves but skirts pastiche with enormously appealing sincerity. "Grenadine and Blue" is a stab at a "smoky" ballad, the kind that night-owls dine, puff, and sip during. The tune haunts. "Wait for the Rain", to some extent a Sinatra/Darin style jaunt, recycles some well-worn chord changes with some new ones. For the last four songs the approach gets lighter. "After the Boy Gets In" seems to musingly celebrate the roots of domestication taking hold after half a century of independence. "Venus of the Essoldo" seems to admire an unattainable younger gal at the bar, in the best Red Rose Speedway style. "Rosebay Railway," despite sounding like that Wings album title, has a gorgeous melody and a vintage-Californian kind of transcendent execution. "Synergy," is a lighter than air bop ditty sung with endearing diffidence. It's clear that Martin needed an artistic break from all the portentous and pervasive "Englishness" of previous work, and it's enjoyable to see him stretching like this. Sort of the musical equivalent of ruminating at the pub, iterative and, with any luck, self-healing. |
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