SOMETHING NEW: ‘Metaphors’ – Keaton Henson

Keaton Henson appears a self-effacing character; his thoughts on his music and how it scares him to think that other people will hear it, is both refreshing and unheard of in today’s music industry. Even his style of singing and basic, unproduced tracks are unassuming but incredibly powerful in lyric and emotion.
An artist in both forms of music and drawing/painting, he sold a lot of his artworks to fund studio time to record his material – with this particular track coming from a limited edition 7’ of 500 copies. So, thank goodness for YouTube, we’re able to seek his back catalogue and forthcoming releases – despite how much the mass listening audience may freak him a little.

‘Metaphor’ is a contradiction in that by describing metaphors he wouldn’t use to highlight her beauty, he does in fact do so.  Yet no metaphor could compare to the way she looks at him. A warm, rich and Autumnal piece of guitar mixed with the sometimes slightly off-key and quivering vocal makes for a wonderful track, in which such rawness simply adds to the authenticity in its meaning.

From the 7’ ‘Metaphors’ (2011) / http://www.keatonhenson.com/

SOMETHING OLD: ‘Buck Rogers’ – Feeder

One from my youth to bring in the New Year – well, A-Levels still feels like some sort of youth! This is one of those anthems, yes I consider it big enough to be called an anthem, when as soon as you hear the opening guitar bars you can’t help but smile – mainly because you know what riff is round the corner.

The song is about his partner leaving him for ‘Buck Rogers’, who is the guy with the Jaguar and all the materialistic things, and trying to win her back – ‘I think we’re gonna make it’ makes the chorus which you can’t help but sing along to.
Feeder are one of those bands you don’t realise how many of their songs you know until you stick one of their albums on, or take a look on YouTube. For me, instantly likeable, with some great songs in their back catalogue. ‘Just A Day’ being one which nearly got in this place on the ‘Something Old’ blog entry.

I have my Isle of Wight Festival tickets and I can’t wait to finally see Feeder live, and once that chorus kicks in – be taken back to my 6^th form common room. I’m practising my jumping already.

From the album ‘Echo Park’ (2001) / @FeederHQ

SOMETHING NEW: ‘Age’ – Lianne La Havas

Fresh into the New Year with a gorgeous song from a lady I first saw on Jools Holland’s show back in October. Alone in the spotlight with her guitar she played and sang this song so effortlessly, and once again it was the sheer simplicity which completely hypnotised me into the performance.

Recently nominated in the BBC’s Sound for 2012, Lianne hails from London with a Greek father and a Jamaican mother. Jill Scott, India Arie, that laid back, soulful vocal collective of women are clearly an influence but Lianne certainly carves her own style into the genre.

A slightly tongue in cheek song about age, her affections for an older man and how this maybe frowned upon. ‘Is it such a problem if he’s old? As long as he does whatever he is told.’ Girls, you gotta love that, right?
Fresh from a December tour of America supporting Bon Iver, who was bowled over by her performance when appearing on the same Jools Holland show; I hate to coin a phrase but this time I mean it - for me, Lianne Le Havas is ‘one to watch’ for 2012.

From the EP ‘Lost & Found’ (2011) / @liannelahavas 

SOMETHING OLD: ‘Two Princes’ – Spin Doctors

Oh come on, a classic from the 90s, covered and moderated over the years – there’s nothing like singing along the ‘Two Princes’ scat (do I attempt to type it?) ‘yyyyeeaaahahahaadobadipadobadoob....’ er, yeah, you get the idea.

An extremely uplifting song which I’m sure brings your own memories, mine would be listening to this on my Sony Walkman as my parents drove us down to our Cornish caravan. As soon as I hear that rolling drum intro into the memorable guitar riff, I’m there.
I’ll be honest I’ve never really thought about the words, what they mean etc, which is rare for me but in light of this it is a fine song however deep you want to get into it.

The Grammy Award nominated vocal no less by Chris Barron creates a perfectly formed pop song, with him wearing a Dappy hat in the video – no doubt years before Dappy was even in nappies. Reminisce your 90s with some crazy good guitar licks and perfect that scat for some old skool memories of better music years gone by.

From the album ‘Pocket Full Of Kryptonite’ (1991) / @SpinDoctorsBand

SOMETHING NEW: ‘Berlin Song’ – Ludovico Einaudi

So 2009 may not count as completely new, but still just about comes in my 2 year rule of being ‘new’. And this choice is allowed to break any restrictions I may have laid before.

Much like my mantra that folk shouldn’t remain strict with listening to one genre of music, this week I’m throwing out there this absolutely gorgeous piece of classical music by Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi. My love for this song originally stemmed from it being used in the brilliant This Is England ’86 series, so I guess watching the most recent series this week reminded me of this track.

Whether you’ve heard it before in the program, or its use in other films, if you can’t associate it with a particular scene then it almost compels you to write your own. Haunting, subtle and incredibly moving, you could even say at this time of year and with the weather we’re having it even suits so wonderfully down to that. 
The melody throughout is surprisingly uplifting despite the somewhat darker sounds of the chords and undertones. The reverb on the piano adds to this, especially with the higher, lighter notes. It’s not surprising Ludovico’s work has been used in films, TV and advertising campaigns, for an instrumental to evoke such emotion, I won’t lie, it could sell me anything.

And a word to the wise and the greater music fan, please don’t listen to this in those pesky earphones Apple provide you with. It’s worth the awe and audio lushness of a proper set of full headphones to appreciate that full effect of a song completely washing over you. Ooh, get me!

From the album ‘Nightbook’ (2009) / @LudovicoEinaudi

SOMETHING OLD: ‘In The Deep’ – Bird York

Probably mostly recognised from the Oscar winning film ‘Crash’, ‘In The Deep’ was in fact part of an album made many years before the release of the film.
Singer Kathleen Bird, performing under her stage name Bird York, has the most effortlessly beautiful voice. Almost whispering through the track, no emotion is lost as she retains every word within the ‘underwater’ production of what is a truly sublime song.

It’s the subtle additions, the keys on the piano sound like they’re barely being touched – much like Kathleen’s voice where it’s the very softness which turns out more powerful than any belted out note.

Lush and rich in colour and emotion, if you’ve seen the film you’ll appreciate its meaning and its worthiness for the Oscar nomination in song category. If you haven’t seen ‘Crash’, then I’m sure after listening you’ll appreciate ‘In The Deep’ for what it is, an exquisite piece of music.  

From the album ‘The Velvet Hour’ (2003) / @birdyork

SOMETHING NEW: ‘Pelican’ – The Maccabees

What promises to be the festival song of next summer (yes I know it’s ONLY December) but a song that instantly great which makes you think about jumping around in a field with strangers with no regard for spilling your cider, is the perfect pick-me-up for cold mornings.

Stabbing guitars get your feet tapping before the glorious harmonies mix into the chorus and really there’s no stopping you shaking everything else. Starting as one tempo and building into another, it’s not always clear where the track is going to go next – but that’s no bad thing.

There’s almost a hint of menace with the haunting layered vocals, until that guitar returns and it picks up the pace once more – bringing more than an appreciative grin to your face. The structure starts simplistic but brings us to a more than gratifying finish so you’re able to catch your breath.
Now just picture yourself amongst the masses listening to this one live....is it the summer yet?!

From the forthcoming album ‘Given To The Wild’ (2012) / @themaccabees