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LINDA THOMPSON Won’t Be Long Now Topic TSCD822
Longstanding dysphonia problems make any Linda Thompson sighting precious. The fact that, now substantially beyond the full flush of youth, she can still make an album that makes your heart wobble fretfully is extraor- dinary. Every bit as affecting as her fêted 2002 comeback album Fashionably Late, it’s a sur- prisingly folkie affair in which her voice gen- erally maintains its air of sorrowful majesty in which its occasional frailties seem entirely appropriate, given the bruised nature of this mostly self-written selection of songs.
None more so than the opening track
Love’s For Babies And Fools, with a particu- larly damaged lyric originally intended for Rufus Wainwright given added poignancy by the quietly lyrical acoustic guitar arrange- ment of ex-husband Richard Thompson. With son Teddy, daughters Kami and Muna and 16-year-old grandson Zak Hobbs also prominent, it’s familial affair, with extended members of the folk family participating including Dave Swarbrick, John Kirkpatrick, Martin and Eliza Carthy and Sam Amidon; while Ron Sexsmith and John Doyle have a hand in the songwriting.
Linda will always say she felt it pointless to write songs back in the day because she couldn’t hope to write anything to match Richard’s masterful work, but for uncompro- mising melancholia she comes pretty close on tracks like If I Were A Bluebird, Never The Bride, Father Son Ballad and Never Put To Sea Boys, the nautical theme running through the album emphasised by a wistful cover shot of Linda gazing out to sea.
She further piles on the desolation with the great Irish emigration song Paddy’s Lamentation and a stark unaccompanied live version of the Stewart family classic Blue Bleezin’ Blind Drunk. But there is some upbeat respite in the shape of Mr Tams, a slightly curious drinking song in praise of John Tams involving an agreeably ramshackle and celebratory chorus and Swarbrick excelling on fiddle; and a neatly countrified version of Anna McGarrigle’s As Fast As My Feet, featuring three generations of Thomp- sons and Kami Thompson on lead vocal.
Admirably sensitive, Edward Haber pro- duces with a welcome understatement that allows the still potent Thompson voice full rein to tell her mournful stories. Kleenex a must.
www.lindathompsonmusic.com Colin Irwin
STEVE TILSTON TRIO Happenstance Hubris HUB007
Once again the title of Steve’s latest project cannily pays direct tribute to the creative process and inspira- tion that gave rise to its ges- tation. This time it was the happenstance re-acquain- tance of Steve, at a concert in Bath, with two of his
musician friends from the ’70s: fiddle player and multi-instrumentalist Stuart Gordon and harmonica player Keith Warmington. This occasion proved all the old magic was still there, and thus the seed was sown for further artistic collaboration, opting this time for a full trio format. Although none of the material they perform on this new album actually dates from as long ago as An Acoustic Confusion, Steve does take the opportunity to showcase the magical, intensely close bond between the three musicians in revisits of three songs from his back-catalogue which, coincidentally, all concern themselves in some measure with
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