Yorkshire born Jason McNiff is now based in Hastings, Sussex and his seventh full length album is his first since leaving London. It is described as an elegy on moving away from a beloved place and a lament for lost youth. It was produced and engineered by Roger Askew (Joe Strummer, Wilko Johnson, Christy Moore) and recorded in Askew's home studio in Eastbourne.
Backing musicians include Beth Porter (of Eliza Carthy's band) on cello and Basia Bartz on violin but it’s McNiff’s crisp Bert Jansch- influenced fingerstyle playing and warmly intense vocals that give the record its identity.
Though big on nostalgia, his reflections of the past are neither excessively melancholy nor overly rose-tinted. In the evocative Wherever I Choose he sings of “moments of happiness [that] go to make up a life of misery.” and in the title track acknowledges that time does not erase sad memories.
Tom is about a friend who mysteriously disappeared while on Damaged Woman he looks back fondly on an eight-year residency as a Flamenco guitarist in a Spanish bar in Waterloo.
It’s all heavily Dylanesque of course but what isn’t? On McNiff’s side is the fact that he keeps things fresh and simple to make his songs real and relatable.