With an acoustic slung over their shoulder and a down/up strumming pattern so devout it could induce RSI, the last decade has seen the emergence of a breed of singer-songwriter enamoured with the 4/4-time signature and a bass drumโs thump. Itโs a sound that smacks of open mic nights and inebriated crowds, as though their careers remain rooted on a pub stool.
The inexplicable rise of Scottish troubadour Gerry Cinnamon might be to blame. After all, in his wake, the Billy Bragg-endorsed (more on that in mo) Liverpudlian electrician-turned-folk-singer Jamie Webster has arrived. But whereas Cinnamonโs stompers are sandpaper coarse, rough enough to inflict instant cluster headaches (the sort of sledgehammer pummel that could have worked wonders for intelligence agencies in Guantanamo), Websterโs writing has greater nuance; musically as deft as the lyrics are defiant.ย
Following the top-ten chart placings of We Get By and Moments, he returns with his third album, 10 For the People. Itโs quite wonderful. And yet, things donโt start promisingly. โBetter Dayโ is a kitchen sink drama thatโs had the kitchen sink tossed recklessly at it. A tale of unions, picket lines and blue-collar altruism, itโs the sort of overcooked, cloying pop number youโd expect to stumble across on an eighties re-run of Top of the Pops. Lyrics such as โIโll stand up for the people because everybodyโs equalโ may make it noble, its bombast is almost enough to turn you into a scab.ย
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Things radically improve by what follows. โVoice of the Voicelessโ may be ripe for festival recap montages of sun-soaked crowds, drug-addled and in bucket hats, but itโs an irresistible slice of radio pop. Billy Braggโs warm, gruff timbre adorns the catchy electric guitar chop of โFickle Franโ, while the two-song saga โThe Boy (Chapter One)โ and โThe Girl (Chapter Two)โ is so rich of atmosphere and abundant of hook that itโs an incontestable career high, voyaging into exciting, new terrain.ย
Elsewhere, โSing Your Tearsโ summons Mumford and Sons so shamelessly that were it a Masked Singer contestant, profanities would be spluttered at the absence of Marcus Mumford upon reveal. Similarly, โLooking Goodโ is Sunny Side Up-era Paolo Nutini, and โDolly Birdโ has a trumpet break that recalls Belle and Sebastianโs โJudy and the Dream of Horsesโ. These references are complimentary to a work that, for all its nods to other artists, is still resolutely Webster. His personality bursts through each time, no matter what hat he wears.ย
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Speaking of which, album closer, โHow Do You Sleep At Night?โ evokes Dylan at his mid-sixties protest best. A show-stopping cri de cลur, it laments greed, the abuse of power and corrupt foreign policy (โWith guns from South Dakota/And trucks made by Toyota/One wonders how such things possess their hand?โ). Itโs so timely to overseas conflicts that the words might as well be the ticker tape on a (likely, non-MSM) news channel.ย
10 For the People is a work that sees Webster break away from the pack. This working-class wordsmith champions the underdog, but his music crosses the class divide. For old romantics who believe in musicโs power to move the dial and effect positive societal change, no matter how small, thatโs a potent pill. For everyone else, thereโs always the tunes โ and a subconscious education. For the people, indeed.
Photo credit: John Johnson
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