Chris Townsend • Copenhagen
Chris Townsend is one of the brightest young musicians to name this year and his dreams are about to come true. At 23 years old, his debut release, ‘Copenhagen’ provides some of the material this singer songwriter is capable of creating. There is no juvenile or adolescent sense to the material, just a mature and grown up approach to songs about love, life, loss and regret are written, although you do consider how much experience his has of life at just barely in his twenties.
His heartfelt lyrics flow through a listener like the wind on a summer’s day. It’s an incredible feeling to sit back and listen as his passionate and optimistic vocals sweep over you. The music this young man is producing is top quality. He has the mind of an intellectual and the creativeness of someone that has been in the business for as long as he has been on this Earth. With his rhythmic guitars, captivating melodies and dynamic pianos it is no surprising he was chosen to support the Felling on tour in 2006.
The diverse methods of his work ranges from gentle piano ballads, to upbeat bouncy numbers like ‘Back Again (So Damn Smart)’ to the pure indie rock ‘United’. He develops his dramatic sound for summer numbers like the jumpy ‘Direction’ and ‘Hardest Summer’. His acoustic side is just as inspiring as the upbeat nature to his music. ‘For The Best’ has an optimistic feel with the piano intro while with ‘Come And Go’, the acoustic guitar subconsciously makes you body wave, the vocals are gentle, not too rough but contains just enough edge to stand out and the effects given alongside the lyrics link in extremely well.
The most shocking of tunes is ‘Copenhagen’. This track begins as a slow moving ballad with a small underpinning piano melody in which some wonderful vocals sit upon and sound effects occur. Mid way through, the track does a complete 180 and introduces a louder melody and atmosphere.
The work of Chris Townsend can be held in comparison to many other great acts that have raided our hearts and played with our emotions over the last few years. There is the James Morrison feel to ‘Radio’ where the acoustic guitar and mellow atmosphere makes the tune bright and refreshing. The piano based melodies of ‘All You Can Say’ are reminiscent of the wonderful sounds that accompany Ross Copperman. Then there is the tug at your heartstrings ‘Stay Positive’ with a beautiful piano melody that Daniel Powter and his ‘Bad Day’ could easily brighten.
This is one of the brightest debuts I have heard.