Jamie Hutchings - Bedsit

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 11 / 3 / 2019

---

Review

There are times when we play a record for the first time and, because we’ve known some of the artist’s previous work we have a preconceived idea of what we are likely to hear. Although he is currently involved in other band projects Australian Jamie Hutchings is best known round these parts for his major contribution to indie favourites Bluebottle Kiss. The appropriately titled ‘Bedsit’ is light years away sonically than these ears remember Hutchings from Bluebottle Kiss. It’s a stark set of songs, stripped back and all the more compelling for that. It wasn’t what was expected and that just makes it all the more interesting and special. Hutchings has the listener from the off; the opening song, ‘Second Winter’, is seven minutes long. The first half of the song finds Hutchings setting the scene, talking rather than singing, and one can’t help but be drawn into his story, to be part of the picture he is so adeptly painting. The monologue fuses seamlessly into the actual song almost without the listener realising that Hutchings has actually started singing so compelling are his lyrics. There’s a feeling that you’re sitting in the room with Hutchings as the story unfolds, as the recording is that intimate. It’s a powerful way to open the album. Given that the album was written and recorded in a former shearing shed at Mount Rankin in the Australian outback the intimate, stripped-back mood that informs the nine songs on ‘Bedsit’ feels appropriate. If Hutchings wanted to capture the loneliness and inner feelings he had when he wrote these songs, then he should be proud of what he’s produced here because in spite of the bleakness of the musical backing these are some of the most powerful songs he’s ever written. The fact that all sounds are made by Hutchings and just a handful of other musicians and his voice always takes centre stage just adds more power to his stories. The strength is in the starkness of the arrangements. Mark Moldre’s harmonica on ‘It’s On Me’, for example, is short but so effective. Touches like that and Sophie Hutchings’ piano on that opening cut are chills down the spine moments - short little embellishments, which add so much highlighting the intimacy and mystery of some of the lyrics. ‘Walking Dream’ is such an atmospheric piece. Hutchings’ vocals conjure up the title perfectly, and the accompanying spooky acoustic guitar is all that’s needed to complete the picture. It might well be one of the starkest songs on the album but it’s also one of the most effective. The double bass supplied by Reuben Wills on ‘December Park’ is another example of how instruments have carefully been chosen to illustrate Hutchings’ songs perfectly. Less is more has become something of a cliché but on ‘Bedsit’ it works. The few musical accompaniments that Hutchings has added to his own guitars and Wurlitzer suit the overall atmosphere of the songs perfectly. ‘Bedsit’ is up there with the best music that Jamie Hutchings has made throughout the many years he has been making music. Despite the sparseness of the backing it’s strangely one of the most accessible and rewarding set of songs we’ve so far heard from this singer-songwriter.

Track Listing:-

1 Second Winter
2 Judas is a Girl
3 It's on Me
4 Walking Dream
5 December Park
6 A Hill
7 Above the Rain
8 Shadow on the Lung
9 Here Comes the Frost