Playlist: from Bronte to Black Metal

Jodie Nicholson – You Wanted This

Jodie’s debut album, Safe Hands, came out a couple of weeks ago (and got some attention in an earlier playlist). Now she’s out on her first headline national tour, and I’m looking forward to catching her in a blockbuster gig alongside Amelia Coburn in Stockton at the weekend.

That would be exciting enough in itself, but to whet the appetite, Jodie released a couple of live clips this week from her album launch show at the Glasshouse. You Wanted This was the first single from Safe Hands, and here it comes in all its glory. Nicholson’s live shows take her chamber pop vibe and run with it, creating a warm sonic embrace for her songs. Early feedback from the tour suggests she’s holding audiences in the palm of her hand up and down the country, and on this evidence it’s easy to see why.

There’s something fundamentally gentle about these songs, but they come with a hint of steel underneath: in “You Wanted This”, Jodie reflects on the birth of her love for music and delivers something of a pep talk in the face of all the challenges that face independent musicians in today’s overly-digitized marketplace. It takes greater self-belief than ever for emerging artists to persevere in an environment where the grassroots risk being cast aside while a tidal wave of retro acts hoovers up the boomer bucks on endless stadium farewells. Yet this is music that deserves a wider audience and, in a fairer world, would more amply repay Jodie’s faith in her abilities.

Jodie Nicholson’s tour is on-going. Local fans can catch her at Stockton’s Georgian Theatre on June 8 and The Fire Station in Sunderland on June 21. Details of all live shows here.

The Unthanks – The Night is Darkening Round Me

The Unthanks were the first band that turned me on to the music of my native northeast. That journey started back in 2009 when I first heard “Here’s the tender coming” and caught them in concert at the Union Chapel. Love at first sound, and the affair has carried on ever since, introducing me to more great musicians. The band’s own sound has gained greater resonance over the years as they explore ever-more diverse musical by-ways.

One of those projects involved setting the poetry of Emily Bronte as part of 2018’s “Lines” albums. The Brontes are not exactly unfamiliar territory for musicians, but this eschews the flamboyance of Kate Bush in favour of the Unthanks trademark introspective sound. It’s all atmospheric piano ripples underpinning Rachel and Rebecca’s husky vocals and close harmonies.

The effect is deceptively simple, not unlike Bronte’s poetry. Yet, like the minimalism of the likes of Phillip Glass or Avro Part, there’s a lot more going on beneath the surface here. The end result proves hypnotic, a chant-like melody backed by swirling eddies of arpeggio. And it’s an impressively long way from trad-folk; for the Unthanks, the conventions of old-school fiddle and clog were only ever a starting point for something much more. In Bronte’s verse, a tyrant spell bounds the narrator; in the Unthanks’ music, you won’t want to go.

The Unthanks are performing their Bronte-inspired song cycle at Northern Stage, Newcastle, on June 15 as part of “The other other Bronte” series.

The Young Property Developers – Black Metal Dad

I’ve never met Paul Stewart, mastermind of Young Property Developers, but it feels like we have a fair amount in common. Tongue-in-cheek promotion for his latest YPD album involves a host of cheesy TV stars from the 80s and 90s, and the man’s song titles even name check “the bit in Commando when he’s putting all the gear on”. Consider that shared cultural experience box well and truly ticked.

Astute observers might guess that these tracks tend to highlight some of the quirkier by-ways of life. You’ll find plenty of references to half-forgotten sit-coms, petulant swipes at the type of music lover who thinks watching Glastonbury on TV stands up as a life-changing experience, and the rather lovely Black Metal Dad.

OK, I’m guilty as charged. Not so much the black metal bit, but the fish-out-water father bit. In the land of the bland, the one-eyed man is terrifying, as plenty of new parents discover. In a 160-second lo-fi blast, YPD skewers the grimmer end of parental interactions (so many whatsapp messages, so little relevance) all too neatly. It’s not taking aim at the most audacious of targets, true, but it’s nice to feel like I’m not the only dad left feeling a bit othered at the school gates.

The Young Property Developers have an album launch party coming up at Newcastle’s Little Buildings on June 15.

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Previous playlists: Folksy flavours / Politics / Stockton Calling / Russia / Aelius / #6 / Border Crossings / #8 / Safe hands throwing stones / More Than a Stone’s Throw / Fusion / Pigs, parties and Portuguese