Teddy Thompson: A Piece Of What You Need

Elly Roberts reviews

Teddy Thompson: A Piece Of What You NeedDistributed by
Verve Records/Universal

• Released: August 2008
• Rating: 10/10++
• Vote and comment on this album:

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Fact: One of THE best albums of 2008.

Britain’s answer to Rufus Wainwright? Yep!

Having a famous father – legendary folk rocker Richard Thompson – is no guaranteefor success. Close your eyes and you’d swear this was actually Rufus Wainwright,who he’d, coincidentally, supported at Kenwood House on July 5.

It’s taken our Teddy eight years and four albums to hit this immaculate peakof creativity: very much like his American born Canadian raised counterpart.Funny too, he’s used Rufus’ producer Marius De Vries. Simply put, this is atruly stunning album, though it’s not exactly been plain sailing reaching this point.Maybe he cast his eyes (and more specifically his ears) over the pond towardsWainwright himself, or maybe it was only a matter of time before his dad’spedigree eventually surfaced, making it one of the best albums ever from aBritish artist – so go out and get it for yourself.

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Anyway, before I get really carried away (I’m tingling with excitement as I writethis piece) let me guide you through this audio delight. His mum (iconic Linda)and dad Richard have, despite critical acclaim, never been big sellers, so maybe ‘junior’ will eclipse their sterling efforts like Rufus has done overpapa Loudon and mummy Kate (McGarrigle). Dropping a lot of his previousclutter, De Vries has kept things neat and tidy, exemplified by pop rockeropener The Things I Do.

He has a propensity for being sort of negative and gloomy, which is evidenthere still, on the confident What This?!!, his take on relationship commitmentfears. The throbbing start unfolds into something much grander, much likeRufus excels at. It’s at this point we hear his vocal range and its very impressive,holding a clever drone at all the right points.

Things get even better when he hits the single In My Arms (out Aug 18),a favourite of Radio 2 already. It’s adult pop at its best. He soars vocallyand he’s clearly hit his stride and having a ball t’boot.

For Where To Go From Here he definitely (or even deliberately) goes intomellow Rufus modus operandi. This smooth and shifting ballad is quite exquisite.If that wasn’t enough, Don’t Know…is when the album really takes off, propelledby daddy’s twanging guitar licks – ah. Can’t Sing Straight is a niftycountry shuffle and possible contender as a single…mh… nice.

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The brass blasts (and swing) just add to the sense of fun at it goes into overdrive.Alas, Slippery Slope is typical Rufus moody balladry and it’s wonderful, andheavenly, adding enough quiver to match Roy Orbison too. On a more straightforward note, Jonathan’s Book bounces joyously leading nicely to beat heavyOne Of These Days where the brass drop-ins add spectacular colours andtimbre.

Then we’re back to good ol’ crooning for piano lead gem, even gloomy, TurningThe Gun On Myself (Rufus casts along shadow over this again). If you’regonna cap a sensational album, you might as well do it in style. The titletrack starts pacey enough, building, adding instrumentation like majestic hornssnorting and stuttering to the very end, as if to say there’s more to comenext time. Breathtaking.

File under: Absolutely brilliant … and worth the wait.

Weblinks:teddythompson.com /verveforecast.com

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The full list of tracks included are :

1. The Things I Do
2. What’s This ?!!
3. In My Arms
4. Where To Go From Here
5. Don’t Know What I Was Thinking
6. Can’t Sing Straight
7. Slippery Slope
8. Jonathan’s Book
9. One Of These Days
10. Turning The Gun On Myself
11. A Piece Of What You Need

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