BIOGRAPHY
John Cunningham was born in the sixties in Liverpool. Is that really worth mentioning? If you had listened to his new album 'Homeless House' you might have worked that one out for yourself. However this is no Mersey-beat revival but a serious fondness for timeless melodies and a matchless ability to tug at the heartstrings with a few choice guitar chords and a frail but magically warm voice.
After playing for a while in a band called The Curtain Twitchers (with Jane Fox from the Marine Girls), John started recording songs on his own and eventually caught the attention of Brighton-based label La-di-da, who released his first record, 'Backward Steps' in 1989. This six-track mini-LP included three songs co-produced by Stan Cullimore (from the Housemartins). It has been reissued in 1992 in CD format with the addition of 5 more tracks recorded between 1989 and 1991.
Its mood was rather upbeat but also included three stark and more introspective pieces anticipating his forthcoming work.
The first full-length album 'Shankly Gates' revealed a more refined songwriting and a slight inclination toward jazz, as well as a generally more nostalgic tone. The orchestration (rolling bass-lines, weeping organs, jingling guitars, swinging drums with a light woodwind topping) also became more sophisticated and personal. 'Shankly Gates' got rave reviews in France, the very choosy 'Les Inrockuptibles' fell in love with it, and Japan where he was invited for a series of sell-out gigs. Unfortunately it never went past the 'succès d'estime'... Too delicate? Too discrete? Ironically, the songwriters John is musically compared to (Nick Drake, Robert Wyatt, Mark Hollis) were never as successful as their talent warranted.
The next album, 'Bringing in the Blue', with its slow and melancholic mood and its lush string arrangements, was not destined to change that situation.
When La-di-da folded we were left with no news from John, exception made for a lonely 7" single credited to Johnson, actually a band formed by John, Tony Stevenson, Paul Portinari and Julian Tardo of EARWIG and INSIDES fame. The release of 'Homeless House' breaks a four-year-long period of silence. The eight new songs included on this brand new CD were recorded in Brighton in 1998 with help from Julian Tardo in an attempt to sound as natural as possible. The melodic songs quietly flow along, the acoustic guitars, piano and bass give them an almost classical touch. The lyrics decorate them with poetry. The album's charming simplicity should not only convince those who enjoy the current neo-folk scene (Ron Sexsmith, Elliott Smith, Will Oldham) but also those who always keep a copy of Nick Drake's 'Pink Moon' at their bedside.
Now John is recording a new work, tentatively titled "Somewhere under the rainbow", for a possible release in summer 2001.
Let's hope the renewed interest of press, labels and music lovers in new acoustic music, will bring some more luck to all those artists that, like John Cunningham, have been doing it for many years!
A review for 'Bringing In The Blue' found on the web:
- Reto Koradi -
No, this is not the album for your next wild party. It won't even help to scare your mother out of the room. But,, this is the right music for those emotional moments, romantic or sad. This British singer/songwriter doesn't use any cheap effects. His songs are quietly flowing along, the acoustic guitar and bass give them an almost classical touch. But the melancholy feel and the poetic lyrics save them well before they get too sweet. The tracks are very consistent, high musical quality all through. "Unarmed" is a good song to introduce you to Cunningham.
If you like artists like Del Amitri, Big Dish, Aztec Camera or Steve Hackett, you should check this out. Lean back, close your eyes, and let it dig deeper and deeper into your soul. And if you're under too much steam after this exercise, you can still pull out your favorite NIN or Killing Joke album, and you'll have enjoyed the whole spectrum of great music that the 90s are giving us.