The Taste of Honey'...- Tim Hudspith and Goldentone (Dead Letter Records)
I saw Tim Hudspith play a few weeks ago. Still has that remarkably lush tone to his music, still those love songs which alternately haunt or spook the listener into a study of memory, or provoke a wry, pained smile of recognition.
We don't always get what we want, nor less what we deserve, but Hudspith twitches our romantic soul.
If you don't have one of those, I will ask you to ponder what on earth you're doing reading about rock 'n' roll.
Hudspith is a romantic of the old school. All those expectations raised and lowered, flying high then spiralling down to dust.
Now, “The Taste of Honey...” is a departure from his tried and true path, as one Tony Burnett has added a few extra dimensions. From programming drums, adding bass and more guitar, keys and backing vocals, Burnett also recorded, mixed and engineered the whole thing. An Adelaide boy apparently, and clearly of some talent and capability.
I don't want to give too much away here, okay? So: it's pop, but not like The Ramones or The Bangles. Burnett allows Hudspith's songs to take one giant leap into the beyond, gives these songs room to breathe, shift and stretch. From a guy with a guitar to groove factor five; here we have sweetness and light, beauty and love - and I mean that in the close, intimate sense, not the banal bellowing beloved of the majority of 'pop'.
Hudspith doesn't need to bellow, pose or shake his fist at the camera. He doesn't wear leathers, studs or a rotating codpiece. What you hear is what you get.
The recipe is simple, the effect striking. Well worth your time and dosh.
1/2
