Nobodaddy
Album: Longing For Flight
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 10
Website: http://nobodaddy.blogspot.co.uk/

"Longing For Flight" is the sophomore album from intriguingly name East Anglian duo Nobodaddy. Consisting of Adam Clark and Mike Wordingham, the duo have produced an album of songs that owe an heritage to the likes of the Everlys and Simon & Garfunkle, but which also give it a harder, more contemporary edge both in sound and content.

This is something brought home right from the start with "California" a song that contrasts the varying fortunes of a couple that head out to the West Coast for work and the American only for one to feel the impact of how lack of success can impact you when you're not one of the beautiful people. The thing that I really like about the song is that feeling that the beautiful person may well find themselves in the bigger nightmare ultimately.

Nobodaddy have a real panache for songwriting, there is a real strength to the narrative that underpins every song, something that is only enhanced by the simple vocal/guitar, with occasional harmonica, delivery. It also helps that the vocals are very much out of the top draw, often performing unaccompanied.

"Longing For Flight" is an album that wears the thoughtful and reflective badge with a real pride. A lot of similar albums have a tendency to slip into bitterness and self-recrimination, it's a temptation that Nobodaddy manage to resist and the album is stronger for it. That's not to say there is no self-examination, there's that aplenty it just doesn't allow that descent into melancholy, it's more positive than that and makes "Longing For Flight" a confident and exciting album.

Neil King