Sam Duckworth, the frontman of Get Cape Wear Cape Fly (who, unlike when many other acts go solo, have NOT split up, just in case any rumours get passed around), has gone and written himself a solo album, which, for the record, is exactly as awesome as you would expect it to be.
The lyrical twists and turns you can find on your standard Get Cape offering are here, but this album seems that little bit more stripped back without losing any of the expected energy. Take the opening title track, for example, a track that floated across the room with delicacy and ease when performed acoustically live (here), but with added dancing drums and a summer-afternoon electric guitar, it builds up to something really quite jazzy, beautiful and upbeat.
Following this, the anthemic, yet dreamy 'Crane Song' allows Sam to really project his tell-tale voice. He fires on all cylinders here as the droning strings layered over the top are atmospheric, before a more crunchy guitar pedal kicks in to provide a real build up to the songs finale. This seems to be a theme in many ways to this album, nine songs that build well but never go overboard at the end, allowing the songs themselves to speak rather than just conforming to some expected huge drum crash leading into a boring chorus.
'Nights' has been a streaming freebie on Duckworths website for the last few months (alongside 'The Mannequin' and '18 to 1') and all three have shown what the record is capable of, but you really need the whole thing to get the full effect. This album is a true album for readers of High Fidelity. It’s been carefully constructed to have a defined beginning, middle and end and isn’t designed to be put on shuffle. 'Don’t Forget to Kiss the Children Goodbye' Sam softly coos as Spanish guitar, streaming synths and a subtle but clever drumbeat echoes over the top. Whoever produced the mixes for these songs is a genius.
'18 to 1' follows next, and it’s my favourite. Emotional, emotive and vulnerable. It charts the story of long-lost love and is utterly beautiful in every way. The lyricism is simple. The story is told effectively and you can really feel the yearning and affection held within. Stunning in every way. This has the influence of Elliot Smith at his very, very best written all over it, and there can be no better, or more complimentary way to describe it.
During a recent interview (here) I held with Sam Duckworth, he revealed that the following track, 'Angels in the Snow' was his personal favourite from the album, a song that charts the aftermath of the Chernobyl reactor disaster. The beauty of the fallout on the ground, the deadly mixed with the serene as it fell like snow on the ground. Like previous track '18 to 1', this is a serene semi-acoustic piece, but is a lot darker than the twinkling innocence of the previous track. Proof that while this album doesn’t do anything specifically daring, what it does is solidify Duckworth as one of this nations top songwriters alive today.
'The Miracle of Science' uses pretty much every trick in the book when it comes to using electric enhancements. Loads of synth, reverb and vocoder action. In all honesty, there’s probably too many effects here though, which is only a minor criticism. It almost fits, but the chorus is just too much. That said, it’s another great track with a dark undertone. The lies you’re told during your life to protect you, the fact you can name stars that shouldn’t be yours, and so on are covered but in such a serene way it almost emphasises it even more than an angry thrash metal song would have.
'The Farmer' should have turned his drums down. It should be a great song, like all the others, but the drums are far too loud during the first half and are utterly distracting, which is a shame as it really does ruin the experience. The song picks up a lot during its second half though as the melody and Duckworths vocals get more intense and frantic. In fact, the second half of this track is utterly fantastic, given the way it’s built. A little more subtlety here and this song would have been a true great.
"You were everything I hoped you would be" is the message repeated throughout 'Clementine', a pretty love song with a multi-layering of electric and acoustic guitar intertwining with great care and precision. This is pretty much as good as it gets, with the positive emotion flowing through the vocals. Far too many love songs just don’t have that level of soul and heart in them anymore, and this has both in spades.
Then, we close with the curiously titled '8888'. The full band kicks in for this one, complete with backing singers for the chorus. Upbeat, happy and full of optimism, the six minutes you get from it is an excellent way to close this utterly brilliant collection.
Perfection? Almost. There’s a couple of minor issues, but this whole record, as a whole, is worth every penny spent. Guaranteed.
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'The Miracle of Science' uses pretty much every trick in the book when it comes to using electric enhancements. Loads of synth, reverb and vocoder action. In all honesty, there’s probably too many effects here though, which is only a minor criticism. It almost fits, but the chorus is just too much. That said, it’s another great track with a dark undertone. The lies you’re told during your life to protect you, the fact you can name stars that shouldn’t be yours, and so on are covered but in such a serene way it almost emphasises it even more than an angry thrash metal song would have.
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