Candid reflections of life and love.
Regular readers will recall a feature which ran a couple of years ago called “But is it Americana?” in which writers would put the case for inclusion into the genre of artists or bands not typically thought of as being americana. Initially ‘Earth Mate’ prompted this reviewer to ask that very question to which the short answer was no. But if a bit over-used, “singer-songwriter” is certainly part of americana. Thoughtful songwriting about the human condition, relationships, looking back and forward all belong. For those reasons then there is a place in these pages for Julia Fordham. To her writing add her exceptional vocal range, sumptuous arrangements with some impressive musicians and lush production. Who cares about labels anyway?
From the folk clubs on the English south coast Fordham’s eponymous debut album in 1988 went platinum while her second album, ‘Porcelain’, released the following year became her best known work. Since then her career has involved collaborations with a huge variety of musicians on record and for film. Three decades on those folk roots are still there, just. More evident are her deep jazz influences but what strikes most is the transparency of her writing. Fordham takes a look back at what might have been, relationships drenched in love that soured and the importance of home, both in a physical and metaphorical sense.
That notion of finding a base opens the record. ‘Home (If This Is What Love Is)’ finds Fordham musing about being in another world and making her way back to more familiar ground both literally and spiritually. It is a theme that runs through the album. An echoing piano evokes that other world as Fordham’s ethereal vocals gently guide her home. “If this is what love is/ Let’s make it/ Into heart shaped stepping stones/ And let’s start walking home”.
Fordham describes ‘My Old Table’ as “the lone witness” around which blazed several rows. The gentle rhythmic acoustic guitar soothes while Fordham’s voice soars above the strife of all those years ago. The sultry ‘Minor Victories’ brings out Fordham’s jazz influences as she drops her voice drops into the edgy beat before soaring off. The title track is about another split but that relationship brought her child. She would not have had it any other way.
Fordham’s duet with Ryan O’Shaughnessy on ‘Done & Dusted’ sounds the album’s most direct link to her folk days. Another relationship gone, “We spontaneously combusted/ It was a slow burn til the end/ Then it all went up in flames”, but these two gentle voices gently extinguish the inferno. There are other collaborations. ‘Chair On The Porch’ with Gordon Giltrap sparkles with purity as she remembers someone departed long ago. ‘Smile Or Frown’ with Greg Johnson is a multi-layered anthem to both what has been and what may come. Very much part of the whole album with their impressive contributions are Leland Sklar, Miles Bould, Scott Firth and producer Spencer Cozens.
Julia Fordham writes with exceptional candour. Describing the album as representing a reflective stage of life, she admits that older does not necessarily mean wiser but ‘Earth Mate’ is about “love and loss with a handful of hope tinged themes”. Listen to this album from start to finish in one sitting and most should relate to that.
