If you're gonna go for a sixties sound, who better to take after than
the Beatles and the Beach Boys?
I think it's only fair that every sixties sounding album should have
at least one direct reference to Brian Wilson's work. The reference comes
as number 8 on Martin Newell's album in the form of the beautiful "Miss
Van Houten's Coffee Shoppe" and what a lovely reference it is ! There's
the sparse, fat bass notes, the repeated organ chords, the strings, the
blending of lush orchestration and vocal harmonies.
In the liner notes Newell describes the song as "Brian
Wilson-on-the-village-green" and, surprisingly enough, this fits as
a perfect summary of the song's mood. A Beach
Boys form with a kind of Britishness thrown in. As if Brian
Wilson had produced the Kinks' "The Village green preservation Society".
There's a melancholy quality here, a kind of "village green" nostalgia
thing.
The biggest reference to the Beatles comes on track 11, "Queen Phyllis
of Colchester" which in parts bears more than a resemblance to the Fab
Four's "While my Guitar Gently Weeps". I suppose this is fair enough. If
there were no resemblance to the "White Album", Newell would hardly have
called his album "The off-white album" now would he ?
But you mustn't get the wrong idea. Although clearly influenced by sixties
greats Newell's album is both an album of today as well as being able to
stand alone on its own artistic merits.
"The off-white album" is a jewel of well-wrought pop with lovely lush
orchestration engineered by French artist Louis Philippe. The richness
and complexity of this orchestration is one of the album's great qualities.
The album is well orchestrated without going over the top. Lesser songs
might have been drowned in the complexity of the arrangements. This is
never the case here. Newell's solid pop numbers manage to shine through
every time. And this is another point that needs to be stated here. The
pop craftsmanship of Newell. He has a great voice and a unique style. Although
influences are obvious everything is done in his particular style and viewed
in his own particular way.
Prominent emotions running through the songs are anger, sadness and
nostalgia. Anger at rotten producers and managers (The world of Dandy Leigh)
or harsh words for a woman who looked down on him while he was out busking
(Queen Phyllis of Colchester). The song that targets politicians (Lions
drunk on sunlight) doesn't possess an angry tone. The tone is one of great
sadness, an emotion amplified by the moving string arrangements, as if
Newell was simply mourning the way society is run. Maybe Newell yearns
for something simpler, perhaps the warm, homey world displayed on the ballad
"Goodnight Country Girl". With it's acoustic strumming and banjo like picking
this is the only track (apart from the Smiths' cover version of "Some girls
are bigger than others") that doesn't benefit from the lush orchestration.
Age is sometimes an issue. Characters living in the past to forget
the unglamorous reality of the present. "When the Damson's are down" is
a good example of this with it's main character, a woman with "crowfoot
eyes" who "was always shopping in the market of far gone days". Some of
Newell's lyrics are a bit like Beatles' lyrics in that they remain sufficiently
undefined to be able to represent a universal expression of something.
A strong emotion shines through, an emotion that can be adapted to a wide
variety of situations. This is the case with "When the Damson's are down"
as it is also the case with "Ursula in a waiting room". "Ursula" shines
through as an angry, liberating song. The details of who Ursula actually
is or was are sufficiently vague to make the song universal, something
that can be adapted to all people who display the negative traits described
in the song.
In at least two songs, Newell criticises the established consumerism
of British society. In the opening track, "Michael Moonlight" Newell pits
the life and opinions of a tramp against the protected and uneventful life
of the regular house-owning conservative Briton. "Queen Phyllis of Colchester"
is a harsh attack, inspired by a woman who looked down on him while he
was busking in a rainy street, on those "haves" of society who vulgarly
prize decorum and appearance above sincerity.
Despising power structures, politicians, false decorum and the corrupt,
taking the side of the bohemian, of the working people, of the have-nots
against the haves, the world presented by Martin Newell is one you've got
to sympathise with. More than just a tribute to bigger and better bands
(Beatles, Beach Boys, Kinks, Who…) Newell
displays his own unique style and view of the world. These are great pop
songs augmented by a complex and orchestrated production. This album by
Newell is an unsung British modern classic !