Reviews
Artist: Sean Taylor
Album: Walk With Me
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 11
Website:http://www.seantaylorsongs.com
Regular readers of Fatea will know that one artist that we've paid close attention to over the years has been singer/guitarist Sean Taylor. We were blown away by his debut album, "Corrugations" and enjoyed every album he's delivered since.
Taylor is not a man to sit on his laurels, despite the quality of his work he always seems to strive to improve on it, take it to the next stage, he's an artist that uses his past to map a way to his musical future.
"Walk With Me" is the most 'band' album Sean has produced to date, though he plays most of the instruments himself, harmonica and piano as well as his more familiar guitar work. It's also an album that features more guests than his previous cut. Most notable amongst these are BJ Cole and Trevor Hutchinson, who also takes the honours behind the desk.
It's a similar story with the music, mainly penned by Sean with a couple of notable exceptions, William Shakespeare takes the writing credit for "Love Hale On" the much covered "She Moves Through The Fair" comes down the traditional line. Both tracks show that Sean is not only a fine writer, but a great interpreter of song.
It's one thing to make a real impression with one of your own songs, one that has the freshness of new discovery about it, it's quite another thing to make an impression with a song that many people have heard before and probably already have their own favourite version off. This definitely adds a new interpretation to the canon, being alternatively mellow, then driving. The percussion is subtle almost nonexistent as it sneaks into your thoughts, departing to give way to blues guitar, a dramatic reinterpretation indeed.
When an album features Shakespeare amongst it's writers you almost feel guilty about raving about the poetry and wordsmithing of the album's main writer. You can feel literally generations of English teachers turning in their graves, but if they were capable of listening to the lines Taylor delivers across this album you feel they would nod in partial agreement and to my knowledge, Sean, has yet to write a play.
You would expect any album delivered by Sean Taylor to be strongly influenced by the blues, despite his London upbringing you can feel the heart of delta beating in his chest, what you would probably expect less of is the folk influences.
"Walk With Me" both blends and plays those two main influences off each other, part of that may be down to Hutchinson, but there has always been a part of Sean's live shows that have drawn on that part of the acoustic spectrum.
I've mainly seen Sean performing live with just guitar and harmonica and it makes you forget how well he handles the piano. In this context it's mainly been female singer/songwriters that have sidled up to the instrument, but Taylor reminds us that it's just a great instrument and one that captures such passion when played right.
"Poets" brings words and piano together in the most delicately beautiful track on the album. Underpinned with a hint of cello, courtesy of Vyvienne Long, it's one of those tracks that lingers in your psyche long after the final note has drifted away.
The album finishes with a track that's become the trademark of recent live shows, "Fare Thee Well" a classic blues standard, raw in both vocal delivery and edge, it's a song that could have come from any time in the last sixty of so years. It captures the spirit of the man, his love of instruments as well as words.
It won't come as shock to you to say that this is an album, I've really come to love. 2010 has been a strange year for me, one that's often got me down, this is an album that's got me back to my feet again on more than one occasion. Normally I'm one to take such hyperbole with a pinch of salt, I guess a lot of you are to. All I can say is this is an album that deserves the chance to prove it's self to you.
Similarly if Sean is playing anywhere near you, get along.
Neil King