Reviews
Artist:Luke Jackson Album: Bloom
Label: First Take
Tracks: 12
Website: https://www.lukepauljackson.com/
Long established on the acoustic club and folk club circuit, but up and coming in the wider consciousness thanks to some well chosen support slots, Luke Jackson has a tremendous voice. A voice that is, on his latest album BLOOM, capable of gentle crooning subtlety on opening “Ruler Of Nothing” and acoustic “Rainbow Valley accompanied by his nimble guitar in Martyn Joseph territory. It can also be huge, but warm, holding a note forever on the spiritual unaccompanied “Trouble Now”, Jackson’s overdubbed vocal work song. That striking voice can be the whole song with Jackson’s delivering all the powerful emotion over a strummed guitar on “Hummingbirds In Kingston”. Luke does yelping Jeff Buckley energy on the roaring electric “Curse The Day”. Listen to how he roars on “My Busy Mind” then brings it down instantly with a crooned word. Jackson also has some considerable guitar chops, handling the Rock “Timewarp” electric guitar on the already mentioned “Curse The Day”, the economical hypnotic stabs and sparkles on the sharp “Woman” and “My Busy Mind”.
As well as the beautiful picking on “Trouble Don’t Last” and the simply stunning elegant “Rubber And Magic”, I need to mention too the sublime duet between Amy Wadge and Luke on “Rubber And Magic” which is truly special and the powerful bite he delivers on “The Wire”. Jackson also writes amazing songs too, with Americana “Trouble Don’t Last” nailing real emotion then “My Busy Mind” and “Old Friends” having the conversational lilt of Paul Simon. Couple that with a fine premier league vocal and bouncing guitar and you get a sense of the appeal of Luke Jackson. The sublime “Beside You” a duet with Edwina Hayes, has the first person, real life intimacy of Ed Sheeran with the soul voice of a male guitar toting Adele.
Simply stunning, a top drawer vocalist and musician with understated sympathetic backing delivers exemplary songs and performances. Carried on the back of Rock and the folk singer songwriter genre there are some amazing new male troubadours around, Luke Jackson, Chris Fox and George Boomsma spring easily to mind, who manage to extend and add to the tradition they sit well within. As Martyn Joseph himself said, feeling change ‘here come the young’.
Marc Higgins
| Previous | Next |
|---|---|
| Mike Reinstein: The Birds Don’t Sing Around Here | Jethro Tull: Fresh Snow At Christmas |
Recent Reviews
- The Clarkes And Co:Save the Pangolin and Nine Other Love Stories
- Surrender Hill:Wild Country
- Simon Kempston:A Poet Or A Painter
- Kate MacLeod's Mind The Gap:Home Brewed
- Jason McNiff:10 Blue Songs
- Greg Hancock:Words Of Wisdom
- Chris Clark:Across A Carnival
- Adam Beattie:Home Fires Burning
- sundayclub:sundayclub
- The Lost Notes:Live At Symphony Hall
Woman
Fatea Showcase Sessions
The Fatea Showcase Sessions are a series of downloads featuring acts that we've really enjoyed and think that more people should get the chance to hear.
Corsair is the current session and features 16 fantastic artists check out the website to find out more about them and download your copy
www.fatea-showcase-sessions.co.uk for all the artist information.