By Monk
Even though he’s one of the hardest working men in rock ‘n’ roll, seemingly omnipresent on social media with all his various projects, it’s hard to believe that this is the first original solo material to be released by Toby Jepson in more than a decade! But, that is indeed the case, with this, the first in a triptych of EPs which will feature of 20 new songs showcasing the singer/songwriter’s diverse range of influences and subsequently styles which have characterized his career for almost 40 years…
The first six songs in this new collection explore themes associated with mental health struggles, their impact on him over the years and how he sought to overcome them. Themes and issues with which, perhaps unfortunately, so many of us can identify. So, it seems only fair that I preface my assessment of the product with some comments from the man himself:
I’ve called the album collection ‘Look Out!’ as it seemed to focus on the idea of recovery in a very specific way – be aware, take care, be warned, but be open and always on the look out for the truth, the love and the light.
It is an interesting phrase, it means many things. It is inherently a WARNING, a shout, a declaration or a written announcement. Secondly you can BE the Look Out, the one seeking something, taking care to make sure your eyes are open and observant. And thirdly it’s a place, an actual physical structure or possibly an imagined vantage point from where we observe and watch.
All of these definitions I feel sum up the record – it’s a collection of songs that hope to enlighten, inform and give you information that might help you to see from a different perspective. It’s an album unlike any I have made before. The songs are – in part – gentler than before, and have more to say. It’s about as honest as I’m ever going to get, and the approach I’ve taken on each of the songs has been driven by the needs of the song – I’ve let the atmospheres lead me rather than imposing my will. The results are an eclectic bunch of songs that all exist in their own worlds – there’s some familiarity, but there are also some surprises, some of which I wasn’t expecting, but I went with because it couldn’t be any other way.
So, what of the songs themselves?
Despite Jepson’s assertion that these songs represent a gentler side of his sound, opener ‘Alone With You’ is an archetypal Little/Angels/Wayward Sons-style slice of catchy rock ‘n’ roll, albeit with a dark lyrical undertone, with a raucous underlying riff, a series of brief but blistering solo sections and acidic but infectious vocal, the latter characterized by a chorus that sticks in the aural memory banks after the first, or even tenth, listen.
‘Sweet Smell Of Success’ is another track that harkens back most emphatically to his Little Angels days, its massive sweeping brass and wind section extolling the virtues of the band’s Muscle Shoals-style early Nineties (and subsequent reunion) collaborations with Jepson’s long-term friend and collaborator Dave Kemp and the Big Bad Horns especially in the brilliantly intertwined guitar/saxophone solo which actually has you pausing for a few seconds to try and figure out which instrument is doing which part… genius indeed!
‘What Will It Take?’ sees Jepson stripping things back a bit, leading off with a bar-room honky tonk piano mien underpinning his suitably questioning vocal before exploding into a suitably joyous declaration of self-defiance, it’s mood swinging with subtle little interjections of melancholia in between it’s otherwise upbeat and dystopian sense of well-deserved enjoyment and relief. This is a feeling emphasized in ‘Throw It Away’, which sees Jepson deliver one of his most assertive, declarative and jubilant performances, while ‘One Track Mind’ has such a sense of fun about it that it emanates from the speakers and forces a smile onto your face as you try to sing through the inane grin.
Closer ‘The One Turns Out The Light’ is a rambunctious country – yes, COUNTRY, as in bluegrass/hillbilly – stomper that again brings a smile to your face while immersing yourself in the beautifully reflective lyrics – and the Yorkshire brass band interjection at the end is another slice of the dark humour that also pervades this deeply personal release.
I’ll certainly be looking out for the next two releases in the series. The messages which Jepson has delivered, some emphatically, some subtly and, perhaps surprisingly (and more importantly), so positively on this first installment really do strike a chord, and prove, as if it needed proven, that music, when delivered from the soul, does indeed have the power, not only to entertain but also educate, elucidate and, above all, transform.
- ‘Look Out! (Vol. 1)‘ is released on Friday (8 November).
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