Hugh Cansdale is a musician from Birmingham, UK who recently released The Lives of Others. The album draws most of its influences from older generations going back to the ’60s. There is a mix of surf, rock, punk, folk and more. I was reminded of bands as far ranging as The Clash, To Dinosaur Jr. and a number of folk artists. That being said, there are two main styles one of which is loud, rock-based music and the other being intimate folk songs.
“The Lives of Others” is a prime example of what I’m talking about. There is that mix of late ‘60s style. On this song in particular bands like The Doors and The Animals came to mind. Up next is “Rats” which felt like it should have been used in a spy/thriller movie. The song is a whopping seven minutes long and more or less stays the same dynamically with very little change in melody. “Tracked” is a solid song. It reminded me of early British garage rock. The album takes some serious 180’s with “Across the Border” and “Mealtime’ which is a heartfelt ballad done on piano and what sounds like cello. By the time I got to the folk inspired “Facing into the Wind” which was a beautiful song I wasn't sure the direction this was going. We get back in a ’60s rock feel with “He Need Never Know” but then simmer down with the meditative “Needle Case.” I also really liked “The Gathering” and “Stone” for completely different reasons. As an engineer myself I thought this was a solid home recording. It's very lo-fi at times and the recording quality does change on some of the songs. Overall, I liked the older aesthetics the song had. This is a good collection of songs. The fact that there are so many styles made it hard for me to feel like I could pick out one of his songs if I heard it randomly on the radio. I think the upside to this is that this album may have something for everyone. Take a listen.
3 Comments
Smurfy
5/29/2020 05:58:48 am
Intriguing. Oscilating. Vibratingly Intense. Heart-felt songs. Congratulations!
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Hugh
5/29/2020 10:06:40 am
Oi Smurfy! Me alegro que te gusta. Obrigado!
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