The RGM Review Roundup May 2020

Welcome to the return of an occasional RGM feature where we corral a quartet of upcoming and/or recent releases that we believe should be on your musical wish list. From bigger names to those on the first rung of the career ladder all of the artists featured here are well worth your time. From a singer-songwriter we discovered via a well-chosen support slot at a live show (you do remember live shows?) to more high profile acts with a proven pedigree the RGM team are always on the lookout for new music. So please join us on the search.

Cheshire-based singer-songwriter Sophie Morgan came to the attention of RGM at a recent live show, and has just released the deliciously titled Marmalade EP.  The four-song disc is her third since she came to prominence - at the age of 20 - with a plumb support slot on a Waterboys tour; an opportunity gifted to her after Mike Scott heard her cover of ‘The Whole of The Moon’.  Marmalade sees Morgan, now 23, making huge strides as an artist in her own right, with a Kate Walshian voice and songwriting skills way beyond her years.  The EP features co-writes with Benjamin Francis Leftwich and Archie Faulks, both of whom lend their voices.  Top marks must go to producer Matt Ingram, however, who has dressed the four songs exquisitely; perfectly balancing the sweet and the bitter, much like sticky orange stuff itself.  All four songs stand up on their own but special mention must be made of dreamy single ‘Bar To Bar’ and the EP’s title track, which contains my favourite rhyme of 2020 so far: dunes and pantaloons.

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Aside from a brief reunion in 2018, The Gaslight Anthem have been on hiatus since 2014.  During that time, frontman Brian Fallon has forged ahead with a solo career that’s gradually shifted him down from stadium rock into an altogether more reflective gear.  His third and most recent solo album Local Honey (released 27th March) is a refreshingly unpretentious outing, packing eight songs into just over half an hour.  The independently released record sees Fallon embracing his forties and a quiet, family life - a long way from rock stardom - with uncommon positivity and, more importantly, without looking back.  Alongside producer Peter Katis, Fallon has taken care not to be hemmed in by any particular genre as the album’s traditional acoustic elements rub shoulders with expansive rolling drums and judicious use of electronics and effects.  Particularly of note is the use of vocal parts doubled in octaves, helping to maintain intimacy while giving the record the sort of sonic breadth you don’t often find on more conventional singer-songwriter fare.  The record’s stirring opener ‘When You’re Ready’ gives voice to a father’s hopes and fears for their child’s future while ‘I Don’t Mind’ and ‘You Have Stolen My Heart’ pay gentle homage to the sanctuary that is a loving relationship.  Among the new releases of 2020 so far you’re unlikely to find a jarful of anything sweeter or more honest.

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When the sound of one banjo just doesn’t cut it, then what do you do?  Easy, of course, you add another one!  Raggedy folkster duo The Lowest Pair have been making music with their banjos (and guitars too, they’re not animals) since 2014 and have just issued their quite wonderful sixth record, The Perfect Plan.  Kendl Winter and Palmer T. Lee have this time collaborated with producer Mike Mogis (of Bright Eyes fame) to fill out - but not smother - their careworn, front-porch sound.  The slow, hypnotic thunk of tracks like ‘Morning Light’ sits against the raw and untouched rolling bluegrass of ‘We Are Bleeding’ and you barely feel the shift.  Winter’s vocal floats somewhere between Victoria Williams and Nanci Griffith but is grounded by Lee’s warm baritone and, together with Mogis, they have widened their sonic palette considerably here without sacrificing any of the lo-fi punk charm they share with the likes of Cat Power and Bonnie Prince Billy.  The tender, acoustic aimlessness of opener ‘How Far Would I Go’ bleeds into the sprawling singalong ‘Too Late Babe’ and then before we know it we’re being dragged through the bluesier, boggy depths of ‘Wild Animals’.  Dang, with three tracks like that at the start of a record you just know you’re going on a journey.  And this one, down the red dust road of pure Americana, you really mustn’t miss.

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If you keep up with our Maple Leaf column, Ben Kunder is a name you will be familiar with.  The Canadian singer-songwriter is about to release his third album, Searching For The Stranger and, at first listen, it’s a rather innocuous thing but by listen two it’s the record you’ve surely known and loved all your life.  Yup, this is a bona fide creeper-upper and possibly the most comforting record I’ve heard all year.   Imperceptibly straddling genres, balancing guitars and synths, Searching For The Stranger’s best bits move from the indie abandon of ‘Berlin’ through the Deacon Blueish ‘Lunenberg’ past the dreamy CSNYesque ‘Colours’ to the more grounded intimacy of ‘Tornado’.  A large part of the record’s appeal is down to Kunder’s bathwater-warm alto and the production’s gentle pop sheen but ultimately it’s the timelessness of the songs that make it the classic-in-waiting that it is.  The record’s exploration of recovery and rebirth taps into universal anxieties but keeps its focus on hope and redemption.  It’s an emotional and existential ride, but it’s also a great big, thirty-nine minute hug.  Essential.

All reviews by Rich Barnard.

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