Boo Hewerdine – God Bless the Pretty Things

Thank God for the Pretty Things is a strange title for a CD. And my extensive research (hello, Wikipedia), has revealed that The Pretty Things are in fact a band, who apparently won the ‘Heroes’ award at this year’s Mojos. But let’s face it, that probably has nothing to do with why Boo Hewerdine called his album that. He’s probably just thinking of flowers and his wife and kids and genuinely pretty things, not an ageing English rock and roll band.Boo’s first CD was released way back in 1992, but you could hardly describe his recorded output as prolific, as Thank God”¦ is his only seventh release. However, a bit more of extensive research (his actual website this time, not Wikipedia) reveals that he’s written/co-written songs for more than 50 other musicians ”“ some dubiously famous like Marti Pellow, others less well-known (won’t mention who I consider to be ‘less well known’, for fear of upsetting their fan).So what about his own stuff, and this album? As a gentle accompaniment, it does the job well. There’s a fair amount of variety across eleven tracks, and plenty of ‘guests’ to augment Boo’s excellent acoustic guitar, which of course is a major feature in all of his work.The opening track ‘Geography’ sets the tone for the album, charting being away from home and loved ones, which is a loose theme for the entire album.The theme continues in track two ”“ ‘Muddy Waters’ which is another insight into life on the road, which given Boo’s profession, and apparently preference of live performance over the recording studio, is something very familiar to Mr Hewerdine.‘Sleeping Lions’ slips into waltz time, and has a mellow feel with some gentle strings and soft percussions, plus backing vocals by Heidi Talbot. Last time I saw Boo perform live, he and Heidi were adding their rich talents to the Drever, McCusker, Woomble trio. Since on that occasion, Boo’s contribution was mainly instrumental, it’s nice to get re-acquainted with his excellent vocal talents.‘Rays’ has a soft jazz feel about it, and contains a pretty great one-liner "I went to bed sober and woke up drunk", plus some nice trumpet blowing by a Mr Gustaf Ljanggen.Boo’s hardcore folk following have no doubt been eagerly awaiting this album it’s most certainly a pleasant listen. But folk’s a bit of a clique-y business, and unlike other contemporary folk acts like Lau (and all their various incarnations) for those skirting around the edge, it does little to really entice new listeners in.

Buy album from Amazon |[itunes link="http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=335159743&s=143444&uo=4" title="iTunes" text=" iTunes"]