Nigel Clothier? A new one to the Bluesbunny. Nevertheless, if we have the time and the beer, we can do a review.
"Come North" comes over like a British folk song. Not so much the Incredible String Band as a working men's club though. The sort of song that goes well with cigarettes (if only …) and ale on Sunday afternoon to accompany your hangover. It's a simple song with little in the way of instrumentation as it takes us away on a voyage of self discovery.
"Whisper in My Mouth" takes us into cod country territory. The sound is that of country covers band right down to the encouragement to "come on" near the end and this is rather at odds with the downbeat lyrics that include "feel as if life has been cancelled…". Our Mr Clothier does seem to feel like he is a square peg trying to fit in a round hole.
Here we have a couple of rather nice, homely songs that are comforting in a way that you thought only Ovaltine could be. The thing is they also left us with an odd feeling of unease that is difficult to put into words. A sort of lyrical darkness if you like. Then, as we inspected the sleeve (see what you miss with a download…), it all became clear. On the back sleeve is a picture of our Mr Clothier. Or at least we assume it is and he looks like a history teacher who is about to get arrested for 73 firearms offences. Underlying tension - that's the phrase we are looking for!