C3S5CD8 picked by my best friend, who still thinks social media is having a drink with a journalist after work, so is unlikely to ever grace the virtual pages of Facebook or twitter but is debating setting up a blog. (I’ll let you know if it happens, as it will be a great read!)
Easyworld had passed me be until July of last year, when I read a review of a David Ford gig I had attended at The Cluny. The review mentioned he had played a song (This Is Where I Stand) from his previous band Easyworld. Although a big fan of David Ford who I have briefly mentioned in this blog before (see post on 19/02/2011) I wasn’t aware of Easyworld so as soon as I could I hit Amazon Marketplace and found 3 albums released between 2002 and 2004 of which this was the second. In truth Easyworld barely troubled the singles charts 6 top 75 hits, the highest charting (‘Til The Day) reached number 27 and is included on this album. I have seen footage of Easyworld playing Glastonbury in what looks like the NME Stage, so they must have been ‘contenders’ for a little while.
Easyworld seem to have been a vehicle for David Ford prior to him going solo, he wrote and sang all the songs and to some extent from the 2 albums I have it feels a little bit that Ford was learning his trade and identifying his style as there are signs of the David Ford I know and love on this album. For those not aware of Ford’s solo work, he writes beautifully crafty songs, with highly emotional lyrics, whether he is singing about love politics, or just everyday life. Live he is one of the most entertaining artists I have ever seen whether that be when he is playing or his conversation into between songs.
Listening to Kill The Last Romantic I understand why Easyworld didn’t set the world alight, the album is a bit all over the place, we have indie pop and sensitive ballads. It’s with the latter that Ford does the best and Drive, ‘Til The Day and Tonight could melt the heart of even the most cynical amongst you.
David Ford has gone on in my opinion to become an artist that you should all know and love (and for his sake own his albums!) he gets limited airplay on radio and this might be because he is prone to swear even in his most sensitive songs. ‘Til The Day is a beautiful love song where Ford sings about being in love and wanting to spend the rest of his life with someone but his ability to swear manifests itself in the line which is meant as a compliment “I would gladly put up with this shit for the rest of my life” In the context of the song it sounds perfect but I’m guessing it struggled to get airplay even when it hit the top 30 of the charts. This is something still present in Ford’s music to this day, my favourite being, Cheer Up (You Miserable Fuck)
If you like the video to ‘Til The Day buy the album by all means, but I would recommend that you start with one of Ford’s 3 solo albums which offer up this style of music by the bucket load, and are more consistent in quality.
Oh yeah and by the way the irony of this albums titles is not lost on me, as I suspect that Ford is actually the last romantic!
Mark 5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment