Howard Jones: Pefawm on CD

In July 1998, Howard Jones unveiled his new sound at the first concert of the tour to promote his album People – comprising a four-piece band with ex-Kajagoogoo’s Nick Beggs on bass, Robin Boult on guitar and the late Kevin Wilkinson on drums. That album had largely been recorded at least a year earlier (most of the tracks forming the Asia-only release Angels & Lovers). One of the specially-recorded tracks for People – the single Tomorrow Is Now – was more representative of the direction his live band format would take.

If any misguided souls still cling to the outdated preconception of Howard as some kind of fluffy, inconsequential New Ager with a synth, these reworkings of classic material alongside selections from People and even the odd brand new track will surely lay that narrow-minded view to rest once and for all.

This project comes in two different versions. A single, commercially-released CD with 14 tracks, called Perform.00, and this 20-track double-CD only available through the Howard Jones website. They are not live albums. Neither are they a “greatest hits” played live in the studio. Largely inspired by the endless requests from fans to record the electrifying live set, Howard and his three band-members eventually decided to do exactly that.

Perform.00 and Pefawm reflect Howard’s latest approach to his entire catalogue of work, and his desire to keep the older songs fresh by putting a new spin on them. The range of influences and genres that old favourites such as Hide & Seek, Life In One Day and You Know I Love You.. Don’t You? are instilled with, cover the whole musical spectrum, from folk and blues all the way to calypso and heavy rock.

Pefawm is – in simple terms – a double-CD version of Perform.00, with 6 extra songs. It also has its own unique track listing, rather than sequencing the songs in the same order as on the single-CD release. Besides an extra 30 minutes of music, Pefawm therefore offers a different experience when taken as a whole. Indeed, there is good reason to conclude that, overall, Pefawm is the more complete project, the one which best captures both the essence of Howard’s new band format and his blossoming forays into a multitude of musical genres. In fact, many of the 14 songs already familiar from Perform.00 benefit from their new positioning on these two CDs.

HoJo purists may baulk at some of this, even if they enjoyed what they heard on the tour. While the power-quartet approach works to stunning effect on an extended workout of You Know I Love You.. Don’t You? and a feisty, rocking Pearl In The Shell (always a standout in the live set) whick kicks off Pefawm, the original What Is Love?‘s magic is sacrificed for a brassy, intense remodelling which suits the chorus but not perhaps the verses quite so well.

Like To Get to Know You Well is equally well-suited to the full band sound, and slots in nicely between the standout new track Someone You Need (a wonderful, acoustic ballad with touches of Seal and reminiscent of Waltz Away Dreaming by George Michael and Toby Bourke) and a funky rendition of You’re The Buddha. The latter track is one of the half-dozen additions on Pefawm, the version here emphasising the dense rhythm arrangement and bringing a scratchy guitar motif to the fore.

New Song 99, a track which in its previous form could arguably be said to carry its charm via those distinctive keyboard doodlings and minimalist 80s production, doesn’t suffer nearly as much, with *that* synth sound faithfully reproduced in among the guitar work and Hammond organ. New Song ’99 also sounds more at home here as the next track after Buddha than it did as the penultimate song on Perform.00. One of the highlights of the People tour set, Wedding Song, is another recording exclusive to Pefawm, perfectly recreating the extended, almost Steely Dan-esque workout featured in Howard’s live repetoire.

As the People world tour progressed, many of the interpretations evolved yet again from the time they were first premiered within the four-piece live setting. Hide & Seek, in particular, had an almost completely new rhythm and guitar motif added, not to mention a different atmosphere provided by the mournful, rumbling bass and muted harmonica. The version featured here lasts for over 10 minutes.

The first disc is concluded with the triumvurate of Let The People Have Their Say, Tomorrow Is Now and Things Can Only Get Better. It’s the natural (and an effective) way to end CD1.

Things Can Only Get Better is stretched out to almost 8 minutes, culminating in a Latino-flavoured coda that is a million miles from 1985’s Dream Into Action version. Whether the result is successful may be reliant upon individual taste. Tomorrow Is Now doesn’t differ all that much from the originals, the song’s structure clearly not requiring any major overhaul or stylistic tweaking. Let The People Have Their Say is also a faithful recreation, though it’s the 1999 re-recording template rather than the first People version. The emphasis is on a Carribean-style rhythm and exultant brass over the strident, chiming electronic synths and percussion that marked the 1998 original.

Perform.00 and Pefawm are the sound of Howard’s most recent past, and at the same time perhaps his statement of intent for the future. Hence the inclusion on the second disc of the two non-People songs played from the outset of the tour.

Love Is A Good Thing is a reggae-lite pop song with plenty of brass, a summery sound and a delighfully melodic chorus. A far cry from Human’s Lib, but in reality there is little point in pining for what has gone. That was then, and this is now.

I Must Go, meanwhile, is even less recognisably Howard… a Country-tinged waltz that covers previously unchartered territory for him, but the song was never one of the highlights during the tour, invariably overshadowed by the more energetic numbers.

The project’s lead single is a new recording of No One Is To Blame, featuring the Philarmonic String Section. While it’s a moot point that yet another version of this song is now available – follwing the 1985 album version, the 1986 hit featuring Phil Collins, and various orchestral reworkings – this is a surprisingly successful venture. The spirit of the song is intact, with an elastic bassline nicely juxtaposed with the soaring string flourishes.

The remainder of CD2 holds some real treats. An accomplished skank through the reggae-tinged Everything, which has ben enriched considerably since its initial appearance on People, precedes a flawless five-song sequence.

Let The People Have Their Say (Stadium) is the third version of the song to be recorded, and was often snuck in to the set of Howard’s live shows as an alternative to either the piano-driven pop incarnation, or the subsequent Calypso remodel. With its rolling, 4/4 backbeat and rock aesthetics, the song takes on an almost mantra-like quality.

During the various 1998 and 1999 tours around the world, a spanking new Carribean-influenced Life In One Day was unveiled, and proved extremely popular. The version included here is the only track on either Pefawm or Perform.00 to feature a live audience on the recording. It’s a song perhaps more ideally suited to such a makeover than Let The People Have Their Say, and exudes a summery glow of feelgood vibes.

Next stop is a vibrant Dreamin’ On, always a highlight of the live set (and the cue for Nick’s be-kilted Irish Dancing!). While the album version from People was fine, it’s generally sounded far better played by the band, and this recording does full justice to the giddy acoustic heights it can scale in a concert setting.

The album closes with What Is Love?, followed by the radically overhauled and elongated Hide & Seek, which finds its perfect home situated at the close of the second disc.

There could be a case for claiming Pefawm should have switched the end of CD1 and CD2 around, keeping the feel of Howard’s live set (and also that of Perform.00). Usually, the likes of Things Can Only Get Better, Let The People Have Their Say, Everlasting Love or even No One Is To Blame feature at the close of proceedings. However, by concluding with What Is Love? and Hide & Seek, Pefawm has its acquired its own identity, and finished on a completely different note than if any of the aforementioned tracks had been chosen in their place.

Pefawm, then, is a whole lot more than merely a longer version of Perform.00… and significantly more rewarding as a complete listening experience. How either album as a whole will fare in today’s market is difficult to gauge. Howard is not unsual in giving his old, familiar songs a good dusting down – at this very moment Suzanne Vega is in the middle of a tour which sees her taking the same approach to her own catalogue.

These albums serve as a souvenir of the People era and tour, as well as a tribute to drummer Kevin Wilkinson, who so tragically ended his life last summer. He was an integral part of the band’s dynamic, and is still sorely missed. This was his last recorded work.

The main question is of how much relevance an actual album of studio recreations will be to those beyond Howard’s existing fan base. It would be heartening to think they could mark the beginning of a fresh chapter in his career.