Reviews
Artist:Thea Gilmore Album: Thea Gilmore
Label: Mighty Village
Tracks: 12
Website: https://theagilmore.net/
I first got Thea Gilmore when I saw her perform live at Cambridge back in 2004. Before then I was aware of her, I'd bought the single, "Juliet (Keep That in Mind)", the year before, but such was her performance on that day, it changed my perception of how I heard her music. And I left Cambridge that year with a very much lighter wallet and a lot more weight, six albums at that point, to ship back to Dorset.
Depending on how you count, Thea Gilmore's recently released eponymous album now brings that count up to 21, I'm including both Afterlight and the Sandy Denny collaboration, "Don't Stop Singing" in my counting. Any way you look at it, that's an impressive array for any singer-songwriter. Few artists have that sense of longevity, fewer still maintain such a high standard of quality over that period.
As a writer performer there has always been an acerbic edge to Thea Gilmore, her songs have always been uncompromisingly honest, sometimes brutally so, a spade is called a spade, there are no attempts to hide the truth behind flowery language. That doesn't mean that her lyrics lack poetry, far from it, just that she calls things as she sees them.
"Thea Gilmore" the album is probably her most uncompromising album yet. This is a manifesto in musical form. When you play the album and before you fully bring your thoughts together, I ask you to do one thing, set yourself two hours to one side, play the album back to back, track by track, feel the final track on the album, "The Bright Life" absorb it then play the album back to back again. Thea Gilmore is the only artist that I can think off that has made me change the way I listen to her twice.
Even before hearing that final track, "Thea Gilmore" was selected to be album of the week on my radio show, that became cemented in position. Ironically it also became first time my favourite track didn't make the cut, apparently, "That's Love Motherf@cker" is not considered radio friendly. Yes I understand the reason, but it really does deprive radio listeners of one of the finest bits emotional poetry that's been written for years.
The thing about being uncompromising is that it isn't just about the angry songs, angry is easy, it's easy to be edgy when you are angry, being uncompromising when you are raw and tender that's a whole different ball game. There are songs on "Thea Gilmore" that I'm sure were therapeutic and cathartic when they came into existence, many artists would be tempted to leave it at that point, Gilmore took them into the studio and includes them here and in her previous "Afterlight" album.
"Thea Gilmore" is a master class in songwriting, it is the graffiti on the bus station wall, it is the focal point of the gallery, the projection on the houses of parliament calling out the issues and the dark corner of the room where you want to hug a cushion and hide. This is an album that moves you and is absolutely inspirational.
Neil King
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