Back in 2009 I was in the early stages of developing my
abilities as a songwriter, and had begun to build up a small selection of
original material. I think at the time I had a higher opinion of this material
than it was worth, as I thought I’d upload some low quality demos online to
share my music with the world (hypothetically of course). What better way to
capture the attention of music lovers everywhere than to open my own MySpace
account? Bear in mind that by this point MySpace was already something of a
laughing stock amongst social media outlets – but I was undeterred, as it
seemed that many independent musicians were also using the website around that
time.
Needless to say, my own material went largely unheard by all
but a few sympathetic friends who told me that it was “really good”.
Well-meaning this may have been, but I lost interest in the MySpace experiment shortly
after, and discarded the bulk of the material I had written during those early
songwriting days.
However, the MySpace experiment wasn’t a complete waste of
time as it resulted in the discovery of a few independent artists, who I’m very
pleased to have found. Typically I would browse through other musician’s pages,
listening to samples of their music and reassuring myself that it was “not bad”
before hastily reassessing my evaluation and never returning to their profiles
again. One day though, I happened upon the MySpace profile of a
Manchester-based singer/songwriter named Richie Syrett – and upon listening to
a track named ‘Easy’ I was pleasantly surprised by the quality, as well as the accessibility
of the track. I found myself returning to his page, to re-listen to the track
many more times, alongside the other tracks he had made available.
There were some other musicians that I found on MySpace
whose music I also enjoyed, but Richie Syrett was the only musician I liked so
much I ordered a copy of his debut album – which I think is named Commit No Nuisance although it may
simply be self-titled, I’m not entirely sure. [Ed. I have since had it confirmed that the album is self-titled, and consequently I have changed the title of this blog accordingly] I even received a note from the
man himself when my copy arrived, thanking me for purchasing it, which was a
very nice extra touch.
The album opens with one of my favourite tracks ‘Times Long
Past’ which starts with a quiet and subtle instrumental lead-in, before a
throat-clearing cough is heard, and Syrett’s Americana-influenced vocals come
in. The first verse maintains the slower pace, but then things pick up
gradually leading into the chorus. From there the song continues to gather
momentum, adding in extra layers: backing vocals, symbols and
simple-yet-effective lead guitar licks.
The following track is ‘Easy’ which is the reason why I was
able to discover Syrett’s music in the first place. It has a more up-tempo beat
than the opening track, and there is a nice little swagger to the arrangement. The
subtle arrangements are also at play here, layering the instrumentation nicely
as the song progresses. The chorus is probably the main reason why the song
stuck with me, and not because it’s particularly unusual, but because it’s
memorable, straight-forward and catchy.
‘Mondays Always Come’ has an opening that reminds me of The
Beatles’ ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’. Lyrically the song seems to deal with the
monotony of day to day life, as well as the struggles with choices of lifestyle
– a theme which continues on the following track ‘Out Of Sight, Not Out Of Mind’.
As a transition in between these tracks the sounds of cars driving past on the
motorway can be heard, allowing the record to take on more of its own identity –
not sounding confined to the recording studio.
Elsewhere there are really memorable tunes in the form of ‘American
Mud’ a song that follows the singer on his travels; ‘Slipping’ a gorgeously
arranged bluesy ballad, and ‘Painting By Numbers’ which layers on the electric
guitars a bit more heavily to create a more imposing sound.
Another favourite track of mine appears towards the end of
the album ‘Four Days and Three Nights’, a track punctuated by rhythmic finger-clicking
and that deals with insomnia-driven musings – an identifiable theme for me. The
tempo picks up once again on ‘No Flies On Me’ and the track amalgamates a lot
of the components which have been put to great effect throughout the album.
The final track is probably my favourite from the album
overall, which seems to indicate that Syrett is at his best during slower
numbers. ‘I Am My Everything’ begins with what sounds like radio-static, as the
listener adjusts the tuning, before finding the song. The song flows very
smoothly, conjuring up images of smoky bars where live music such as this plays
until late into the night. As the song fades out, there is an over-pronounced
exhalation – which nicely bookends the album from the throat-clearing at the
start.
There is also a bonus track, a very nice cover of The
Rolling Stones’ ‘Honky Tonk Women’ which plays after several minutes of silence
at the end of the final track.
Overall the album is a very solid, accessible debut record.
The shoestring recording budget is put to great use, as each track makes the
most of its minimal resources, and any excess instrumentation would more than
likely detract from the quality of the sound. The album doesn’t reinvent the
wheel with regards to musical innovation, but that is hardly the point – I really
like it, and several years later, it still has a place amongst my music
collection.
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