Deeply personal album from UK's premier songwriter
Personal albums are a thorny issue. On the one hand, it’s admirable that the artist has bared their soul for the sake of a fickle public. And yet it’s such an easy thing to get badly wrong, descending into mawkish sentimentality and the fallback excuse of “telling it like it is”. Fortunately, Thea Gilmore is wise, and talented, enough to avoid the obvious pitfalls of such a move. ‘Liejacker’ is a very accomplished album. Although she’s been in the industry since 1998, Thea’s songwriting remains fresh, interesting, and thought-provoking as well as entertaining.
Opener ‘Old Soul’ sets the album on solid foundations. The song is a duet with Zutons frontman Dave McCabe, a perfect if unusual match. And it’s not the only notable duet on the album. McCabe may be more familiar to those who watch the current charts, but there’s also an appearance from the wonderful Joan Baez on ‘The Lower Road’. Listening to this album brings to mind how appropriate Baez’ appearance on it really is; Gilmore has been hailed as her modern equivalent often enough, and rightly so. The pair have even worked together before. The whole album has delightful echoes of that world of troubadour singer-songwriters " Dylan, Joni Mitchell; all weave their influence across the songs.
‘Black Letter’ is a personal favourite of mine, because the rebellious lyrics hark back to earlier songs by Gilmore, but this is far more complete. Even though this is an acoustic-style album, it manages to exude a fresh energy and upbeat tempo to a lot of the songs. There’s even a country/folk element in songs like ‘Rosie’ which adds a new twist. Gilmore’s voice and lyrics blend so seamlessly into the music that these songs sound like they’ve been around forever already, yet you never get tired of them. And it’s a much more grown-up album than anything before, but you’d expect that from an artist who has had enough life changes in the last few years to cover several albums. There’s a completeness and understated polish to the album that makes it a ‘finished’ project; something as good as it can be.
Of course, it’s not for everyone. Like she says, there will always be those who see her as “Another tin-pot poet”. Folk rock is a difficult genre to navigate, but ‘Liejacker’ should appeal across the board, from fans of Dylan, to Springsteen-style Americana, to anyone else who appreciates carefully chosen words, and a memorable tune (watch out for the indescribably catchy ‘The Wrong Side’…). There’s even a version of ‘You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)’, tongue, as ever, firmly in cheek.