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Acoustic, folk, pop rock, songwriter, Glasgow.    Zeer de moeite waard.

“...an exceptional album of strong songwriting coupled with intelligent and often adventurous musicianship. Bert Jansch, Nick Drake and John Martyn spring to mind..”

For the opening title track of his last album, 2021’s Wrong Road Home, Scottish singer songwriter Robin Adams sang of stars that ‘got back their shine’. In comparison, the harmonium introducing The Rover, the first song from Robin’s excellent sixth album, is low and slow, immediately suggesting a contrasting mood that the ‘black dogs and lonely roads’ of our rover’s journey confirm. Notably, these nine songs began life back in 2018, at the tail end of a chronic illness that had left Robin housebound and isolated for four years.

Robin initially posted demo versions of the songs on Bandcamp before revisiting them with a full band after hearing how they evolved and thrived in a more fleshed-out live setting. It’s important to note, however, that the music for these songs is very well considered throughout, with the downbeat mood of several pieces enhanced by, for example, the subtle bowed notes of Juliette Lemoine’s cello and the violins of Emma Pantel Bowden and Charlie Grey on the gorgeous, elegiac title track.

At the core of each song is Robin’s fingerpicked acoustic guitar, its attack often muted, bringing depth yet understatement to the music. This is evident on the starkly beautiful Lost, where Robin sings of stars that ‘do not guide me / they mock me and tell me I’m too far from home.’ Here, he allows David Bowden’s bass and Stephen Henderson’s percussion to sit in front of the guitar sound, the muscle of each instrument reducing the guitar to ghostly shimmers. 

It’s a lovely piece, with hints of Songs Ohia, and takes us nicely into Ride On, a sturdier, more ominous mood piece, with reverb and string buzzes painting a picture of the perils of a road travelled (this theme recurs on The Beggar, suggesting a link to Robin’s isolation during the writing stage). What I love here, and throughout the album, is a deliberate pause before the music begins, with just the softest whistle of wind present before the guitar intro, effectively drawing the listener into this stark landscape.

The album ends with the shortest song, Blue Flower Slumber, clocking in at just a hundred seconds, but feeling like a fully realised piece. Here Robin sings of ‘decaying lullabies’ and ‘the black chorus’ in a plaintive voice over a neat guitar line with alternating bass strings and cello. Sympathetic strings arrive and hollow percussion supports a brief yet powerful song that balances world weariness with the strength of love. 

It’s a beautiful way to end an exceptional album of strong songwriting coupled with intelligent and often adventurous musicianship (listen to Campbell Drummond’s sax and Dan Brown’s piano elevating Bad Seed: ace). With a run time of just over half an hour, The Beggar is lean, yet it packs in a lot of creativity and depth, without wasting a note. It’s a superb album, one I’ll continue to listen to, and should garner many accolades.

Tracks:
01. Intro
02. Love, Peace & War
03. I Don't Really Know What Love Is
04. The Truth Remains The Same
05. Love Battery
06. Eye Bags Don't Lie
07. Come Running To Me
08. No More Tomorrow
09. Who Will Be There
10. Something's Calling
11. Riding After Midnight

Staat er compleet op, 10% pars mee gepost. Met zeer veel dank aan de originele poster. Laat af en toe eens weten wat je van het album vindt. Altijd leuk, de mening van anderen. Oh ja, MP3 doe ik niet aan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v35VFeaEoo