 | | Neil McSweeney |
It’s a gathering of talent of varying ages and styles, the biggest and arguably most exciting of this week’s being one Neil McSweeney. Sheffield boy McSweeney knows what he is doing. Tall, confident and not scared of giving it back to an intimate crowd, he’s aware he is good enough for you to want to listen out of more than curiosity; he doesn’t seek your approval, just gets lost in his guitar. He’s best heard cold, as the fruits of his labour aren’t growers but instant buds of excellence, drawing you in from the first time you hear them, filled with melody and, unusually, stillness. As Neil put it, "I believe that silence has its place in music". Sounding charmingly like Tracy Chapman mixed with the deep voice of Johnny Cash and the aching of Tim Buckley, his songs are stories, from the brilliant London Road, reminiscent of memories and change, to Smile, based on his time in admin. As is so often true of his home town counterparts, he just doesn’t sugar-coat life.
He dwells on morose detail, with lyrics like 'she don’t like what she sees, to feel fine is a disease' - but there’s optimism too, as in Long Way Round and its paean of 'when we lose our way, it’s just a new way we’ve found'. He may not be made for big venues, but at shows like this, where he seems as if he has just turned up to join in on open mic, he’s spot on. |
