Jack Cheshire - Copenhagen

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 6 / 4 / 2011

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Less than a month after I had written a column for this website about the number of great bands I’d found opening up shows at concerts I’d been to, and my good luck struck again. Jack Cheshire, a mid-20s singer-songwriter, supported Roddy Woomble at London’s Union Chapel, shortly before the release of his second album ‘Copenhagen’. I sat down having not yet listened to a note of his music, but ended the set confident that I’d enjoy anything he had recorded. Impressive as his songs were, the thing I liked most about his performance was how happy he was just to be there. A huge Cheshire-cat grin beamed from his face, as he told the audience "This is just brilliant", and after another song, "This is the best gig I have ever done." Granted, playing to the Union Chapel - a perfect church, as beautiful a music venue as any - is a big gig for any up-and-coming artist. Earlier in the same month, he had appeared at the Green Note, a nice venue, but one where thirty people represents a packed house. Yet, his boyish amazement was surely entirely unaffected, and it clearly won the crowd over. They listened carefully to his songs, and the applause after each one suggested they liked what they had heard. Cheshire’s plants his songs somewhere between the stream-of-conscious confessionals of Bright Eyes and the swirling mysticism of Devendra Banhart. Possibly his closest contemporary is Fionn Regan, but Cheshire is more down-to-earth. Where Regan might opt for a literary reference, Cheshire is more inclined to throw in a joke. He’s also an uninhibited performer - on several occasions in his live show, the songs give way to furious thrashing on his acoustic guitar. Again, it is Cheshire’s naïve enthusiasm that stops these workouts seeming staged. On record, the qualities that made his live show so enjoyable add up to become a strong set of songs. He’s helped here by double-bassist Philip Moll, drummer Jon Scott and percussionist James Carnell. Backing vocalist Djamilla Skogland-Vass lends a voice, while Rob Coe added some extra guitar on one track. The six travelled to a Sweden to record, and the journey seems to have done them good - the songs merge nicely together, and one track flows nicely into the next. Cheshire’s imaginative songwriting, luckily, stop the songs from sounding too alike. Cheshire’s work sits nicely within the singer-songwriter/folkie genre, but doesn’t feel constrained by it. Instead of big melodies, Cheshire prefers hazy tunes that gently seep into your head. The loose, jazzy style adopted by his band fit’s the mood nicely. 'Copenhagen' ends up reminding me of the early work of Tim Buckley and at times even of Radiohead’s recent albums. We are left with a genuinely impressive album, from a songwriter who sounds like he has enough imagination to make many more.

Track Listing:-

1 Paperhouse
2 Copenhagen
3 Wanderlust
4 Bells Again
5 We Are Electric
6 Trinket Box
7 Magic Eye Lens
8 Saturn Returns
9 Ego Machine
10 Time Travel

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/cheshirejack/
http://jackcheshire.bandcamp.com/
http://jackcheshire.com/
https://twitter.com/CheshireJack

Label Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/SafetyFirstRecords/

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