Our editor’s pick of the albums reviewed on these pages during the past week is Jamie Webster‘s debut We Get By – revisit the review and have a listen via Spotify:
“If there’s something of the busker about Jamie Webster, it’s probably more by accident than design.”
“Many singer-songwriters begin like that, on the pavement, staring up at uncaring suits and black-shined shoes as the notes pour out and loose change explodes into a battered instrument case. Of those that make it, few choose to honour the hard lessons.”
“Better still to square the Liverpudlian and former electrician in the folk tradition, but only because he chooses the least complicated ways to connect with people; a strummed guitar, some welcoming chords and a proudly accented voice, basic tools made good by joy and artistry. Whatever the story, there’s much of the past in his music, a conscious anachronism in an era when the present is constantly trying to erase itself.”
“Webster cuts more to the chase than his forebears though, saying We Get By, ‘documents and asks questions of the struggles, joys and escapes of everyday working-class life. A few chords, a bit of passion and a lot of the truth’. These days, that’s a hard thing to find, as fooling ourselves has become a national sport, a blight the singer lays out on opener Down The Road, its scuffed-up indie rock immediate proof that this isn’t just another street corner urchin with a grab bag of hope.”