Tom Houston – Gap in the Fence
Independent – Out Now
Tired of the same old? Then Gap In The Fence from Scotland’s Tom Houston will bring refreshingly welcome rays of musical sunshine into your life.
For this, his fourth solo album release, the leitmotif of connecting with the worlds of both a child and an adult is used to great effect. Whereas a child views a gap in the fence as an opportunity, for exploration, discovery and adventure, for an adult it is more likely to be seen as a threat, a barrier to keep someone in, or indeed out. With songs informed in part by fragments which see Tom as a young lad in the1960s begrudgingly holding the rope of a fibreglass boat pulled up on Wester Ross, Tom as a yet-to-be-discovered songwriter, and more contemporaneously, Tom the creative adventurer, father and traveller, the beguiling nature of his songwriting is much in evidence.
To label Tom’s music as folk-style would be convenient, and given the fact that folk music guru Neil MacColl not only produces but also contributes on a range of instruments, adds weight to the accuracy of the description. This should not, however, pigeon-hole Houston; what we have here is a singer-songwriter, nine of the twelve tracks are his compositions, the remainder collaborations, in possession of fine talent.
From the get-go of opening song, Child on a Plane the marker is laid down for the delights to come. Inspired by the unbridled excitement of a young lad looking forward to his upcoming adventure in Scotland on a flight in 2019, this dreamy piece, featuring some seductive electric guitar work, is the perfect way to captivate the listener, and once ensnared the profusion of gems which follow will transport you to a land of aural enchantment.
Nostalgia makes an early appearance with track two, as accomplished singing twins Cathryn and Lucie Robson, (Siren Circus), join Tom on a version of Backs to the Wall, reprising what was the closing number for their 1989 band Bamboozle, their angelic harmonies complementing both his vocal line and Kate St John’s cascading piano notes perfectly. Mud on the Doorway also evokes, for this writer at least, memories of bygone family adventures, conjuring images of log-stove fires, Pooh-sticks games, muddy walks in the woods and bedtime stories, and an opportunity to temporarily escape harsh realities, wonderfully expressed through lines such as
And I just want to lay
My head in the ground
Closing my eyes and my ears to the sound
Of that big bad world
At the door
The quirky, Campbell’s Lament, possibly the first song written from the perspective of a tin of soup, the rocky and synthesiser-infused The Hook and the ragtime syncopations of Righteous give ample evidence that Houston is no one-trick pony. Two songs, however, shine a particular spotlight on Tom’s song-writing prowess and ability to weave melodic magic. Laughter Below is a song of great beauty and emotion, and if my interpretation of the lyrics is correct, is one of the most powerful expressions of a performing artist’s fear of the demise of their creativity since Harvey Andrews’ First You Lose The Rhyming
And I’m losing it
I’m losing it
The sounds and the song and the show
The musical centrepiece of the album, though, has to be I Am the River #33, a superbly crafted piece and current single release. A self-confessed lover of water, a legacy of holidays by the sea on the West of Scotland and of fishing trips, this connection is evinced, lyrically, in a song which is built around the Whanganui Māori iwi (tribe) in New Zealand, or more specifically to their ancestral river. A river so esteemed that, in 2017, it became only the second natural feature ever to be accorded its own legal identity, with the rights, duties and liabilities of a legal person. Musically, the tender vocal accompaniment provided by Mary Erskine (AKA Me For Queen) is an ideal foil for Tom’s own vocals. Her elegant cello, along with Kate’s deft, cascading piano complement the unobtrusive rhythm section of Ben Nicholls on bass and Mattie Foulds on percussion flawlessly. Shades of The Waterboys may be subliminally detected here.
The four remaining tracks, all spoken word pieces, with atmospheric background music and effects, such as ‘Sounds from the Womb’ and ‘ Bees Buzzing’, might be considered idiosyncratic, but to these ears, their humour, in places combined with thought-provoking reflections, are redolent of Ivor Cutler and that is a good thing.
In his liner notes, Tom states that he is releasing this little package “into a world saturated with music and songs”, that may well be the case, but there is certainly room for Gap in the Fence.
Order Gap in the Fence via Tom Houston’s website: