King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Honest Words

For a piece of work that’s only three songs long, King Creosote & Jon Hopkins have managed to express more feeling in Honest Words than some bands convey in hour-long albums. So much so that as soon as the ten minutes of Honest Words comes to an end, you’ll be aching to put it back on again.

King Creosote’s voice has an enduringly humble, and earnest quality. Without the slightest hint of gruffness, he sings his lyrics in a way that lets you know he means every syllable. Normally I’d shy away from referring to any man’s voice as ‘beautiful’, but if anyone were to deserve such a compliment, it would be King C. It does feel an increasing rarity these days to hear someone sing with any accent other than American, so it makes for a refreshing change to hear King C’s unashamed Scottish dialect coming through clearly.

Honest Words is an outpouring of feeling. The lyrics to each track are more like short poems, and Jon Hopkins sure knows exactly how to compliment these words with the slightest, and most ethereal of music. In fact, Jon Hopkin’s lightness of touch helps the EP avoid becoming emotionally over-the-top. Title track ‘Honest Words’ is one of those songs that builds so subtly, and artfully, that you’ve reached the emotional peak before you even realise it. When paired with Jon Hopkins, King C’s more folky vocal style is lifted into something more contemporary. What the two of them have created together in this EP doesn’t feel like it belongs in any particular time.

The only qualms I could possibly make with Honest Words is that it doesn’t really progress or deviate far from their work for Mercury-nominated album Diamond Mine. Although it’s not necessarily a bad thing that Honest Words is more of the same, it’s doubtful that it will open them up to any new listeners. I imagine the biggest fans of this EP will be those who loved Diamond Mine.

Honest Words seems far too short and simple a title to really do this EP justice. Jon Hopkins and King Creosote, whilst an outwardly unlikely duo, have made magic together. It is, quite simply, beautiful.