Richie Syrett - Good Morning Midnight
Sometimes, when you hear an album for the first time you instinctively know where it's located in the land of music, a certain musical arrangement or a particular vocal that ties the track unquestionably to its influence. On rare occasions you receive a curve ball, an album that sets its place perfectly on track one and by track two has taken a train to new ground, taking you on a journey of many different influences.
Richie Syrett is a singer/songwriter that in a single album can draw influences from a host of different genres and styles. Openly and very heavily influenced by Americana music it's unsurprising that my first comparison for the first track, Wax on the Melt is to Jeff Buckley. If Buckley's voice is the sound an angel makes when it cries, Richie's is the sweet serenade it offers to the whiskey glass as it tries to take it all in. Reverb rich vocal tones echo out across classic guitars in sweet lament.
Exploring a whole range of themes, from the mundane to the extraordinary, sacred or profound the connecting bond that ties it all together is incredibly distinctive vocals. My stand out track of the album lends its title to the album cover. Good Morning Midnight could easily be confused as Bob Dylan or a young Elvis, holding onto the mid 60's journeyman feel of American pop music. Soaked in the past, but brought into the present with a wonderfully delicate soundscape that takes something old and turns it into something new.
Other stand out tracks include Sat on my Hands; which is the closest thing you can get to Buckley's Halleluiah, a true tearjerker of a track that you can just close your eyes and drift away to; and Times Long Past which is a simple and enjoyable ballad. Comparisons can be made from wide reaching sources. In ballads there is an air of Dolly Parton in the delivery, but when the tempo slows and the mood dial is turned to 11 there are hints of R.E.M. A something for everyone approach that somehow knits tightly together to form a very credible album.