James Baxter Live Review // The Talking Heads
James Baxter Live Review // The Talking Heads
(+ Rich Mayor +Jack Francis)
(+ Rich Mayor +Jack Francis)
Following his recent signing to Mi7 Records, label to Trampolene and King Charles, James Baxter showcased exactly why he caught the attention of Mi7 through his headline gig at The Talking Heads Wednesday night. With Wednesday being, as Baxter described “the shittest day of the week” it still couldn’t stop a large crowd of people arriving keen to witness his amazing talent.
Rich Mayor opened the night and is a singer/songwriter from
Portsmouth. With folk-style songs combined with his blatant punk influences
showing that Frank Turner could have and quite possibly is a big inspiration in his song writing, Mayor presented himself
as having a down to earth agenda combined with a potent splash of charisma.
Jack Francis was the next act of the night and as one
audience member so correctly put, his sound can be described as “hot honey
being poured over large, warm breasts”. His warming voice tangled into his
Americana/Soul style silenced the audience from opening track ‘Sunday Dreaming’
to the final note in closing number, ‘How Long ‘Til I See The Sun’. The silence
amongst the crowd was a clear result of the breath-taking tone created by
Francis and produced a magical aura spurred by just one man and his guitar.
James Baxter is a singer/songwriter from Southampton and has
bought back American influences post his time travelling throughout his early
20s. Despite Baxter writing his songs originally for acoustic/solo
performances, he was joined by his band and sister on vocals. The extraordinary
blood harmonies between Baxter and sister, Hannah found in tracks such as ‘As
Strong as My Last Drink’ show how harmonies created by siblings are something
quite incredible.
‘Soap and Water’ was the stand out track of the whole night
due to the dark lyrics being layered over a melody designed to drag you into
the filthy settings Baxter describes. The opening line foreshadows the grubby
adventure the song is to take you on with, “Don’t
you wish you’d picked a poison that wasn’t so damn easy to ingest,” before
Baxter goes into, “On a path to self-destruction,
you won’t be starting World War 3, the only things you’ll be nuking will be the
bottle by your bed and your internet history”.
With previous comparisons to the likes of James Taylor and
Paul Simon, Baxter’s hypnotic guitar playing is designed to whisk you into the
world he has so skilfully created; plus, with a headline tour fast approaching after
his debut release with Mi7, James Baxter is one destined for great things.
Image: Rhona Murphy
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