Shrewsbury’s Dan Owen isn’t an artist who can’t by stylistically pigeonholed beyond being called a singer-songwriter. Judging by his 2016 EP ‘Open Hands and Enemies’, he principally uses the piano and acoustic guitar to write material (like so many), but on occasion, also seems happy to enlist many other hands to turn what could have been basic arrangements much bigger adult pop affairs. The four songs featured here range from the downbeat and folky to including big and bolshy strains of electronic beats and bass.
Tag Archives: singer songwriter
FAITH ELIOTT – Faith Eliott EP
Released as a stop gap between demo recordings and entering the studio to record something properly, this EP from Edinburgh based singer-songwriter Faith Eliott was recorded live to tape in one afternoon at The Happiness Hotel in Leith. Although Faith recorded these tracks quickly and out of necessity (in her own words, “to archive songs that have been disappearing from setlists”), the organic nature of the recordings really brings out the best in her songs. For here are four tracks that are hugely professional and yet still retain a little of that spirit that lots of great acoustic music needs if it is to remain true to its roots. Various studio overdubs could have made these songs fuller, but not necessarily better.
MASON SUMMIT – Gunpowder Tracks
For a man of just nineteen years of age at the time of recording this third album, Mason Summit’s songwriting ability stretches way beyond his years. On these twelve songs he applies his craft to retro sounds aplenty, on songs that span AM radio pop, country and occasional jazziness. In doing so, he comes up with a winning formula that should appeal to those who like their music to have a familiar echo of the past. Of all the superb qualities that ‘Gunpowder Tracks’ possesses, however, it is the over-riding sense of warmth that wins out and really makes the album so inviting.
KURT SHANKS – Blood Line Heart
In the autumn of 2011, Kurt Shanks released his solo debut EP ‘Seven Flights Up‘, a short mixed bag of styles that gave a fair overview of his broad talent. Ranging from thoughtful acoustic twiddles to solid singer-songwriter fare to the title cut’s rhythmically heavy workout, it promised good things for the full-length which was due to follow at some point in the coming year. It felt like a long wait – almost exactly a year, in fact – but it was ultimately worth it, since the eleven tunes on ‘Blood Line Heart’ provide a much better look into the workings of a gifted songwriter…and in lead single ‘Shake Shake Shake’, the world gets an immediate power pop classic.
Billy Bragg – Life’s a Riot With Spy vs. Spy, Live in Sydney, 13th September 2013
In 2013, Billy Bragg’s debut release ‘Life’s a Riot With Spy vs. Spy’ celebrated its thirtieth anniversary. Due to the lo-fi nature of the recording – one man, an electric guitar, no overdubs – it could have been recorded at any point during that time. With the younger Bragg possessing an angry voice, a barrage of social commentary and a knack for a lyric, there was always a feeling that he represented every one of us with a left leaning political voice, just one of many reasons why its seven tracks continue to endure.