Shall I wait for Tom Waits' next classic , a rumour not promise?
Shall I listen to Bob Dylan croaking cover versions or trying to reinvent his best songs but actually demolishing them?
Shall I keep revisiting favourite singer-songwriters of yesteryear like Kevin Coyne?
Or shall I focus on last year's releases and the extraordinary output and talent of one Thea Gilmore, still seeking widespread recognition?
I realise I've harped on about her before.....appropriate, as one of her best album's is 'Harpo's Ghost'!
Last year was, without doubt, her year, though the media would hardly concur, as she isn't young enough or Swedish enough to be eulogized.
Instead, she lives in unfashionable Cheshire : an English woman from Irish family whose husband Nigel Stonier is not only her musical accomplice , but a singer-songwriter and producer in his own right.
Her minor breakthrough was with the 2003 album 'Avalanche' and there are still songs from it like 'Rags and Bones' , 'Juliet' and 'Mainstream' which stand out among her numerous best.
I was listening to Waits' first album 'Closing Time' the other day and it struck me that only 'Grapefruit Moon' indicated the greatness to come.
Last year was unprecedented for Thea.
To begin with, there was her fascinating cd 'The Counterweight'. which represented a return to tackling the problems of society alongside songs on her own struggles with depression which never sound indulgent.
Private moments like 'Shiver' ( on the deluxe version, which you need to get) are perfectly counterbalanced by public ones of gun-obsessed culture on 'Johnny Gets a Gun' , especially pertinent to the USA.
'Shiver' can be seen, like good poetry , in many different ways; I interpret the song as a momentary sense of mortality , which is both thrilling and unnerving.
Even a song which faces her depression full on like 'Slow Fade to Black' is never self-involved : anyone can identify with it .
Two of the most forceful outward-looking songs are 'The War' and 'Rise'.
On an ep the former included the voice of murdered MP Jo Cox and it is a moving, poignant tribute to a woman whose life was dedicated to bringing people together.
If ever there was an anthem for our times and perfect one for the Merthyr Rising Festival itself, then the stirring harmonies of 'Rise' must be it.
Public and private worlds merge in this song as we're urged to rise up against loneliness and also in defiance of hatred and division.
Her lyrics are bursting with poetic imagination, yet never resort to over-cleverness or deliberate obscurity.
'The War' describes how 'the teeth of the times grew long' and 'Rise' describes a journey which is never cliched - 'Is that noise too much to bear / Drowning out your cradle song?'
Gilmore's voice has been compared to Sandy Denny, yet it is far more versatile : it can be rocky, folky or bluesy. It's naturally contralto, but can reach for the heights. Her melodies and choruses are so often memorable and husband Stonier plays a major role with arrangements and guitar-playing.
Released later last year, her ep 'The New Tin Drum' perfectly illustrates this versatility and power.
It's a limited ep on Bandcamp and the title track probably refers to Gunter Grass's brilliant novel about Hitler's Germany. But the song is very much about today's troubled times and the racism Gilmore finds so galling.
As ever, her response is through observation and imagery- 'send your heart to Jerusalem via Dunkirk'.
More than any song in the last decade , it encapsulates our demise, yet its buoyant tune shows the influence of her Irish background, with son Egan playing fiddle and tin whistle.
'Willow' is such a stark contrast and typical of Gilmore. It's such a moving love song, which uses the image of the willow tree so naturally.
By virtue of my son's generous present of Apple music membership, I came upon the third cd accidentally and was utterly astonished.
'Extended Playground' is a combo of various eps she's released over recent years and I was only familar with one song, the poem-song 'Icarus Wind'.
From the rousing opening of 'Teacher, Teacher' to the finale and mystery of 'Josephine Knots', this album is truly captivating ( I'm running out of superlatives!).
There are political calls to arms like 'Are You Ready?', a capella ballads like 'The Parting Glass' and a number of emotional ones about women in society like ' Beautiful Hopeful' and ' Girl Mercury', both bitter and defiant.
'Pretty in Lace' has echoes of Bob Dylan at the very height of his ability, where she exposes the shallowness of a society judging things externally.
Thea has so many important things to say and so many wonderful tunes to give, I just wish more would listen.
'The Counterweight', 'The New Tin Drum' and 'Extended Playground' show an artist at her zenith.
Of course, I could just wait for Waits, couldn't I?
OAK & WILLOW
for Thea and Nigel
This is the land between
the moorland and garden,
reeds and daffodils mingling.
The willow is a voice,
alto but sometimes rising
to high notes of the blackbird.
The oak a sturdy body
of guitar, frets on bark
touched by hands of wind.
Balanced between them
is the nant, the stream
where melodies brim.
Saplings grow in corners
of the damp, clay land :
shrillness of whistle and violin.
A stage where animals come :
squirrel during winter lull,
bright, shy jay momentary.
Willow bends, its music curing,
oak sap preserves long :
furnish your home with songs.
Shall I listen to Bob Dylan croaking cover versions or trying to reinvent his best songs but actually demolishing them?
Shall I keep revisiting favourite singer-songwriters of yesteryear like Kevin Coyne?
Or shall I focus on last year's releases and the extraordinary output and talent of one Thea Gilmore, still seeking widespread recognition?
I realise I've harped on about her before.....appropriate, as one of her best album's is 'Harpo's Ghost'!
Last year was, without doubt, her year, though the media would hardly concur, as she isn't young enough or Swedish enough to be eulogized.
Instead, she lives in unfashionable Cheshire : an English woman from Irish family whose husband Nigel Stonier is not only her musical accomplice , but a singer-songwriter and producer in his own right.
Her minor breakthrough was with the 2003 album 'Avalanche' and there are still songs from it like 'Rags and Bones' , 'Juliet' and 'Mainstream' which stand out among her numerous best.
I was listening to Waits' first album 'Closing Time' the other day and it struck me that only 'Grapefruit Moon' indicated the greatness to come.
Last year was unprecedented for Thea.
To begin with, there was her fascinating cd 'The Counterweight'. which represented a return to tackling the problems of society alongside songs on her own struggles with depression which never sound indulgent.
Private moments like 'Shiver' ( on the deluxe version, which you need to get) are perfectly counterbalanced by public ones of gun-obsessed culture on 'Johnny Gets a Gun' , especially pertinent to the USA.
'Shiver' can be seen, like good poetry , in many different ways; I interpret the song as a momentary sense of mortality , which is both thrilling and unnerving.
Even a song which faces her depression full on like 'Slow Fade to Black' is never self-involved : anyone can identify with it .
Two of the most forceful outward-looking songs are 'The War' and 'Rise'.
On an ep the former included the voice of murdered MP Jo Cox and it is a moving, poignant tribute to a woman whose life was dedicated to bringing people together.
If ever there was an anthem for our times and perfect one for the Merthyr Rising Festival itself, then the stirring harmonies of 'Rise' must be it.
Public and private worlds merge in this song as we're urged to rise up against loneliness and also in defiance of hatred and division.
Her lyrics are bursting with poetic imagination, yet never resort to over-cleverness or deliberate obscurity.
'The War' describes how 'the teeth of the times grew long' and 'Rise' describes a journey which is never cliched - 'Is that noise too much to bear / Drowning out your cradle song?'
Gilmore's voice has been compared to Sandy Denny, yet it is far more versatile : it can be rocky, folky or bluesy. It's naturally contralto, but can reach for the heights. Her melodies and choruses are so often memorable and husband Stonier plays a major role with arrangements and guitar-playing.
Released later last year, her ep 'The New Tin Drum' perfectly illustrates this versatility and power.
It's a limited ep on Bandcamp and the title track probably refers to Gunter Grass's brilliant novel about Hitler's Germany. But the song is very much about today's troubled times and the racism Gilmore finds so galling.
As ever, her response is through observation and imagery- 'send your heart to Jerusalem via Dunkirk'.
More than any song in the last decade , it encapsulates our demise, yet its buoyant tune shows the influence of her Irish background, with son Egan playing fiddle and tin whistle.
'Willow' is such a stark contrast and typical of Gilmore. It's such a moving love song, which uses the image of the willow tree so naturally.
By virtue of my son's generous present of Apple music membership, I came upon the third cd accidentally and was utterly astonished.
'Extended Playground' is a combo of various eps she's released over recent years and I was only familar with one song, the poem-song 'Icarus Wind'.
From the rousing opening of 'Teacher, Teacher' to the finale and mystery of 'Josephine Knots', this album is truly captivating ( I'm running out of superlatives!).
There are political calls to arms like 'Are You Ready?', a capella ballads like 'The Parting Glass' and a number of emotional ones about women in society like ' Beautiful Hopeful' and ' Girl Mercury', both bitter and defiant.
'Pretty in Lace' has echoes of Bob Dylan at the very height of his ability, where she exposes the shallowness of a society judging things externally.
Thea has so many important things to say and so many wonderful tunes to give, I just wish more would listen.
'The Counterweight', 'The New Tin Drum' and 'Extended Playground' show an artist at her zenith.
Of course, I could just wait for Waits, couldn't I?
OAK & WILLOW
for Thea and Nigel
This is the land between
the moorland and garden,
reeds and daffodils mingling.
The willow is a voice,
alto but sometimes rising
to high notes of the blackbird.
The oak a sturdy body
of guitar, frets on bark
touched by hands of wind.
Balanced between them
is the nant, the stream
where melodies brim.
Saplings grow in corners
of the damp, clay land :
shrillness of whistle and violin.
A stage where animals come :
squirrel during winter lull,
bright, shy jay momentary.
Willow bends, its music curing,
oak sap preserves long :
furnish your home with songs.
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