Boo Hewerdine : 'God Bless The Pretty Things'
Released: 26th October 2009
Label: Navigator Records
God Bless The Pretty Things? Yes indeed, lets – but for me this isn’t one of them!
This is an album I wanted to like, I really did. And for the first 3 minutes and 47 seconds of track one I did. Upbeat acoustic pop and what sounded like the makings of a fantastic record.
But no sooner had this ended than we drifted into bland, insipid, bluesy-jazz.
‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you, think I know what’s wrong with me’ is the echoing refrain of track 1, 'Geography'. On this evidence, there’s definitely nothing wrong. Boo Hewerdine’s absence from the musical scene has clearly not dulled his ability to make great music and he sings with the voice of someone half his age, if the whole album was like this it’d be a cracker.
This is a themed album, telling a story through and about people ('Soul Mate'; 'You And Me'), places and times ('In Paris After The War'; 'New Year’s Eve'), and the atmosphere (Geography; Muddy Waters).
Hewerdine has been described in some places as a ‘folk’ artist, if so then he clearly has an alter ego, because this is not a folk album, and doesn’t have one folk sounding song on it. 'Rags' and 'Soul Mate' are more indicative of the album’s overall sound being both chilled out and melancholy.
You really could be 'In Paris after the War' on track seven; the percussion and accordion creating a very Parisian feel. It’s a historical love song featuring a young damsel and an American soldier, gliding into the aforementioned 'Soul Mate' you get the feeling it could still be the same two people in this song too.
Boo’s smooth vocals underpin every song and they meld perfectly with the softer tones of Heidi Talbot on four of the eleven tracks; musical assistance is leant by the hugely talented John McCusker and several members of Eddie Reader’s band. (That’s your folk for you).
The major criticism of this album is that it doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be, it’s disparate. This is an album where pianos collaborate with accordions and banjos dance along with double basses and electric guitars.
To the right pair of ears this is probably a masterpiece, but for me it just didn’t register on my radar. More is the pity.
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