epitomizes the talent, craft and sublime skill of the great British singer songwriter - understated but remarkably versatile both in terms of vocal lines and the melodies of the music" (Rick Lippit, Live Music FM)

Read more: http://www.myspace.com/andrew

10 MP3 Songs in this album (36:21) !
Related styles: Folk: Folk Pop, Pop: British Pop, Type: Acoustic

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Details:
Andrew Sloman: Deadwood, Tides EP

By Matthew Fearon, The Sunday Times

When you see and hear Andrew Sloman perform it is impossible to imagine anyone could dream of breaking his heart. What is clear from the depth of lyrical feeling is that someone made that mistake and we, the listeners, should be grateful they did. While Tides points towards a broken, it is clear that his spirit and imagination remain very much intact.

This is musical consolation for anyone who has endured the ugly end of a once-beautiful relationship and, for those who havenât, it casts a light through the labyrinthine tunnels of a darkened soul or to borrow Slomanâs line, âit strips back these shadows to light.â All too often the London music scene has bristled at the sight of singer-songwriters (Sloman produces all his own music too); with rumours of an impending departure for a more receptive, dare one say deserving, US audience, its endless search for facile, noisy escapism looks to have cost us dear.

For make no mistake, Sloman is a lyricist â and musician â who will be missed. He is possessed of an emotional intelligence that translates into elegiac studies on the pain of heartbreak. What is most striking about his work is the effect of the interplay between the words and the musical arrangement. Separate one from the other and you have two self-sufficient strands that would satisfy most ears but entwine them, as Sloman does, and you have the double helix that captures the entire DNA of a relationship.

The opening chords of Deadwood hint at an Americana-influenced picaresque but by the close of the song, we have been exposed to all the arcane mysteries of human entanglements. The rising inflections of the acoustic guitar point to a life ready to move forward, reinforced by the confident opening claim that âI put a mountain of deadwood behind meâ. However, the introduction of the haunting string section puts paid to that idea and apprises the listener to the difficulties of moving on and leaving behind.

What makes Slomanâs lyrical approach so distinctive is his focus on the mundane nature of break-ups. Tides showcases a refreshing absence of the trite exaggeration we have come to expect from balladry. What makes the EP so disarming is that his lyrics are set against the backdrop of a complex musical arrangement that captures all the difficulty of existing in harmony. It is no trite exaggeration to say that the overall effect of Deadwood recalls W. B. Yeatsâ line that âa line will take us hours maybe; Yet if it does not seem a momentâs thought, Our stitching and unstitching has been nought.â

Blame features all too heavily in songs about heartbreak but Slomanâs songs display too much maturity to fall into that trap. What concerns him is the truth and all its messy consequences. Deadwoodâs confident opening soon gives way to a more plaintive note of someone searching for answers and understanding but still aware that the weight of deadwood cannot so easily be cast aside. âSomethingâs got to keep me from tryingâ, Sloman tells (asks?) himself and it is that search for the âsomethingâ that makes his music so distinctive and compelling.

Deadwoodâs almost imperceptible shift from the singular âIâ to the personal plural grasps the point that so many songs about relationships miss: a relationship is the whole of two hearts and when it breaks, for whatever reason, it breaks both ways. Sloman avoids self-pity, instead he pleads, âGive us our life back, so we can move on.â All the knowing of the heart seems to be contained in the observation that âthereâs no single lesson to where we went wrongâ.

Andrew Sloman doesnât pretend to have learnt all his lessons or that he has all the answers but what is clear from his debut EP is that, despite disdaining them, Britain has once again produced a singer-songwriter not afraid to ask all the right questions â of himself and his listeners.
5/5