Ben Howard – removing the beards from Communion

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There are few scourges more insidious, more unpleasant, than that of the earnest, bearded, acoustic guitar-wielding twenty-something male.

This strange, comically solipsistic breed has become a pox on contemporary music; an infection that we seem unable to shift.

Communion is, of course, the primary exponent of this particular brand of chronic self-indulgence. The label, now part of the Island megalith, has been churning out identikit Middle England faux-folk for a good two years now – and their latest gift to the world is the unpromisingly named Ben Howard.

‘Something else to hate,’ was my initial reaction upon reading the press release that accompanied Howard’s Old Pine EP. How heartening, then, to find something so unexpected.

Howard is not, it turns out, the next in the already long line of landfill folk artists in whom Island apparently now specialise. Instead, his is a hearteningly honest, fantastically unpretentious brand of simple, honest guitar music.

Howard has twin calling cards: his use of the body of his guitar as percussion, and his gruffly endearing voice. Both are instantly familiar; the voice, in particular, is comfortingly unchallenging. There is no affectation, no calculated lilt.

Lyrically, Howard sticks very much to what he knows: the landscape of his native Cornwall, the lure of the beach (he is a surfer), and the common problems of early adulthood – topics which clearly resonate with the thousand or so people who, a couple of weeks back, flocked to Cornwall’s impossibly idyllic Lust Glaze beach to see Howard play his first major hometown show.

The event was, in fact, a delight. In stark contrast to the (completely justified) cynicism with which Howard might be greeted in some of the country’s larger towns, there was a genuine sense that the attendees were simply there to have a good time; to watch someone they like play some songs that they enjoy, in a beautiful setting.

Howard isn’t going to set the world alight, and he certainly isn’t at the vanguard of any new scene. But actually, that doesn’t matter. He is not attempting to be anything that he is not – and what he is (or, at least, appears to be), is a charming, unpretentious chap who enjoys singing and playing the guitar. His labelmates would do well to take note.