David Ford - Songs For The Road (2007)

Artist: David Ford
Title Of Album: Songs For The Road
Year Of Release: Oct-01-2007
Label: Independiente
Genre: Indie
Quality: Mp3 | Stereo
Bitrate: VBRkbps
Total Time: 37:18 min
Total Size: 43,10 MB
WebSite: http://www.davidford.mu/

Track List:
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01. Go To Hell 03:29
02. Decimate 03:26
03. I'm Alright Now 04:40
04. Song For The Road 04:46
05. Train 04:05
06. St. Peter 04:56
07. Nobody Tells Me What To Do 03:04
08. Requiem 04:44
09. ... And So You Fell 04:08

Release Notes:
=====
After a successful recent stint supporting Ray
LaMontagne and then the marvelous Suzanne Vega, the
suitably lo-fi, husky-voiced David Ford releases his
second album for our delectation – an effort which
sees him shoehorning himself firmly into that
ever-growing batch of singer-songwriters which
include, well, Ray LaMontagne, James Morrison, David
Gray and the very popular / very unpopular James
Blunt. Ford would rather be compared to Tom Waits,
according to his website, but so far the only
comparison between the mighty Waits and he is the
fact that Ford wears a hat on the front of this
album.
But to the music with us, and Songs For The Road
opens with the deceptively lush, expansively
strings-laden “Go To Hell”, which, as the title
suggests, is no pushover ballad. Melodic and strong,
this track is a fine opener, depending on which side
your Blunt-esque bread is buttered on, of course.
Ford displays the obligatory cheeky Estuary English
twang in the perky “Decimate”, before letting things
get maudlin but still melodic in “I’m Alright Now”,
and the faltering voice and piano poetry of “Song
For The Road”.
This album is apparently all about the singer’s
foray into America, and to be fair, it doesn’t sound
like he had much fun. “Train” is slowly majestic and
has a glimmer of hope and determination to it,
complete with harmonica squawking motifs, which, as
we all know, are always a good thing. But the album
takes a downturn again with the indulgence of “St
Peter” and “Requiem”. The Randy Newman-tinged
“Nobody Tells Me What To Do” is musically more
interesting but you can’t help wishing this serious
young cove would lighten up a tad. At least he’s got
it all off his chest though – and he has a fair
following of fans who will hang on every angry word.