Category: singer-songwriter
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labi siffre – crying, laughing, loving, lying (1972)
Beyond his beloved-by-producers take on funk, Labi Siffre was unusually skilled at creating subtle folk ballads. On C,L, L, L his high-pitched, drifting vocals, which have since inhabited Robin Pecknold, coalesced with serene acoustics. Each component is wrapped in his earnest songwriting—-the rushes of emotion bloom and plateau with deep sweetness. In spite of some […]
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ron sexsmith – ron sexsmith (1995)
What is artistic confidence? Probably writing an album of saccharine songs, singing them with frail Canadian vocals, and somehow sounding wholly sincere and completely natural. Ron Sexsmith is a great songwriter. Similar to Nick Lowe, another great, Sexsmith expresses emotions and situations in a frank, guileless tone that also breathes out unreplicable kinks. There are […]
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susie merrie – body in time
Body in Time has a quiet faith in itself, so that it glides beyond the stripped back production without a single step too soon, or too far. The successes of each track hinge on how well Susie Merry can inhabit a mood. Her tendency to be direct clarifies each tonal element, leaving the song free […]
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charlie burg – infinitely tall
This album is baffling. It’s confusing, deluded, unusual but dull—confident but insipid and stodgy. Charlie Burg seeks mastery over everything in his path, from lyrical irony to electric guitar riffs. His gloating is hollowed by the execution, which, save for an anodyne run in the second half, is torturously tangled. There are seemingly multiple breakdowns […]
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jake thackray – la-di-dah (1991-compilation)
On first listen, Jake Thackray’s music might seem like pure embellishment, mawkish even. The Yorkeshireman was tall, lean, and looked like a more robust Dean Martin. With his fashionably unfashionable flair, he appears into view as though a national treasure. Then comes the voice: lugubrious, rising like the Dales, and quieting into a mist. Finally, […]
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