A call to action with gentle reminders to remember love.
“First Light”, Sean Taylor’s latest release, is like a collection of broadside ballads; song sheets with the ink still wet, hawked on street corners from the 16th century for some 300 years. As immediate as news bulletins, the songs were meant to provide information and insights into the happenings of the day. Taylor is the modern equivalent of the songmonger, the travelling troubadour who writes to inform, inspire and challenge his audience. He has been at it for decades. Since his first performance in 2001 he has played across Europe, the U.S. and Australia. ‘First Light” is his 15th album.
While Taylor may be the continuation of an old tradition, his music evinces a multitude of influences. He is a multi-instrumentalist who focuses primarily on piano and guitar. His music has elements of blues, jazz, folk and the occasional touch of country. The album’s actual sounds are created by Taylor, producer Ben Walker and a talented group of musicians. These are, primarily Mike Seal (double bass and he co-wrote two songs), Paulina Szczepaniak (drums and percussion) and Brian Standefer (cello). Taylor cites Tom Waits as a major inspiration and Keith Jarrett and John Martyn as two of his favourite musicians. His singing style is soft, almost a talking blues that is reminiscent of Bill Morrissey or Skip James singing ‘I’m So Glad’.
The album leads off with the title song, ‘First Light’. It is a slow romantic number, leading with strings and piano. “The dawn breaks/And stars ache/As sunrise takes/Our breath away.” After this gentle opening Taylor jumps right into his bluesy take on today, kicking it off with ‘Artificial Intelligence’; “This is the age that time forgot/Botox, Insta and TikTok/Programme us how to look/Makes us vote for a racist crook’”. He keeps the temperature up with ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, a searing look at modern Britain, which he describes as follows: “From GB News every fascist little gimp/ the future turned septic, Farage is everywhere/ From celebrities in the jungle to a parliamentary chair/X Factor comfort food is karaoke mugs/From Rule Britannia Tommy Robinson’s little thugs.”
‘Manifesto’ is by the late Victor Jara, a Chilean activist songwriter killed by Augusto Pinochet’s regime. Taylor sings it in what he calls his “north-west London Spanish”. Taylor doesn’t let up when he uses a sax-led New York jazz sound for his sharp criticism of Trump in ‘Little Donnie Returns’. As he notes, it is “the second part to my 2017 ‘Little Donny’ for racist crook Donald Trump.” ‘Seeds’ is based on the quote “when they buried us, they didn’t know that we were seeds.” This quiet note of hope is overshadowed by the images he describes as follows: “Genocide, before our eyes, ask them questions, tell us lies/ They execute journalists/ Butcher hospitals merciless/ Brag about it all online.”
With ‘Everything’ , Taylor reminds us that beyond distress and chaos is love. “Lay down with me/As the stars break free …In the morning/ You are all I need/You are everything to me.” Guitar and double bass provide just the right background to Taylor’s poetry. ‘The Shield’ is about how we hide behind our phones to escape both pain and joy in our lives: “Through this endless echo chamber Those that we love we forget/ We can be cosy inside our chains/ We can turn off the use of our brains.” ‘Poverty’ takes us back to Britain with Taylor’s commentary on the life in tower blocks: “A Poundland’s worth of dreams/ Write us off with a meme/ Wetherspoons and betting shops/Single Mums and killer cops.”
Taylor then covers what he calls “one of my favourite songs ever written”, Dylan’s ‘All Along The Watchtower’. It fits well with Taylor’s clarion calls of alarm about today with lines like:“There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke/ But you and I, we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate/ So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.” He brings it all back to the personal with ‘Murmurations’. This is a gentle love song that uses images of natural beauty, describing a feeling: “Sometimes there is too much beauty to take/ Sometimes I feel that my heart might break/ All is beauty in nature’s eyes/ From the ocean to the highest sky/With you I will always come back for more.”
A beautiful album to listen to, “First Light” is also uncomfortable to hear. It challenges us to pay attention, and you’d expect, Taylor would hope, to act. He has said that “in the face of authoritarian oppression, we have an obligation as artists to stand against fascism.” Taylor is not only in the tradition of broadside balladeers, but firmly in the lineage of Woody Guthrie and Phil Ochs. He pairs words about difficult realities with great music, creating songs that reach beyond the ears to the heart and conscience.
