It's one of those unwritten laws of Rock'n'Roll, but you're supposed to record your seismic early work, burn brightly and fade away, preferably leaving a good-looking corpse. Clearly no-one told ANDY WHITE, for 25 years after he began to stake his patch in the music world, the self-styled bard of Belfast not only shows no sign of slowing down, but he even has the affrontery to sound better than ever.
Now based in Melbourne, Australia, White was back in contention with last year's really rather fine 'Garageband' LP. Despite the title (which was actually culled from a computer programme used in recording the album), it wasn't exactly a Stooges-style return to Andy's roots, but it was an appealingly dense-sounding Pop-Rock record with a few electronic tinges which suited the well-established White muse more than you might imagine.
Coming barely twelve months later, 'Songwriter' blinks in the daylight with allegations of a more 'Roots'-orientated' sound. Like 'Garageband', it was recorded primarily in Canada (Vancouver) with members of Po' Girl, The Be Good Tanyas and Neko Case's band on board and it' an excellent listen from stem to stern.
As usual, White has chosen his collaborators well. Songs are co-written in tandem with Allison Russell (Po' Girl), Stephen Fearing (Blackie & The Rodeo Kings) and Scottish songwriter Stuart Crichton and - as the close-miked and plaintive opener 'The Valley of My Heart' suggests – the sound is indeed more organic and live this time around. It's the first of four absolute stunners coveted by the album and with a series of memorable lyrical images flashing before your ears (“It's Valentine's Day, I'm listening to 'Sticky Fingers'/ there's a cake with candles by the doorâ€) and the band embellishing with kid gloves, it's a glorious ache of a track to kick off with.
For this writer, the three other outstanding tracks here are 'Candlestick Park', 'Start All Over Again' and 'When I Come Back'. 'Candlestick Park', of course, was the venue of The Beatles final official gig (in San Francisco) and the song itself is a poised and memorable ode to nostalgia. 'Start All Over Again' picks up the pace after an emotional (and epic) duet between White and Allison Russell called 'First & Discovery' and trails a Dylan-ish harmonica blast before cheekily hi-jacking the “I think we look pretty good together†hookline from The Who's 'Substitute' for its' own memorable ends. Perhaps even better is 'When I Come Back'. I'm not entirely sure if it's time travel or re-incarnation the song deals with, but its' heartfelt pleas for a better world (“when I come back, I want to see the human race look after all the planet/ not just parts which suit its' greedy-minded lucre-filled ambitionâ€) make total sense to these ears. Certainly, gentle acoustic confessionals rarely pack such a killer punch.
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Although these are the songs that especially resonate with this writer, the album as a whole's an impressive beast. Songs like 'I Believe' and the swaying 'Turn up the Temperature on the Machine of Love' display a Lennon-esque pop sensibility. The lilting, but pointed Northern Ireland commentary 'Kathleen' and the Gospel-tinged 'When You Gonna Come?' bear out the album's 'Roots'-related bent and the lovelorn 'Faithful Heart' sounds so much better in Andy White's safe hands than it would if MOR'D to hell by some over-rated nerk like Paul Brady.
He keeps a little light-hearted fun in reserve for the end, courtesy of 'Twelve String Man' (“I work twice as hard as a man who's only got six strings!â€) which is witty, pithy and celebratory enough to bring on the handclaps, hammond organ and quite possibly the champagne behind the scenes. It's a neat way to part with the album and with it's references to gowing up “in a bombed out town†and “only wanting to play bass†it brings White back to his autobiographical roots.
It would be easy to start waxing lyrical about “returns to form†with both of Andy White's last pair of albums, but he's never really gone horribly off the boil along the way. Indeed, in a game based on highs and lows, he is a marker for consistency. That said, he's always moving, always looking for the next great hook and always writing something resonant. He's a great performer and 'Songwriter' should once again come highly recommended.
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