Unless they’re Scott Walker, most artists might think spending more than a decade over a ‘debut’ album a tad excessive. On paper, ‘Fearing & White’ has been 13 long years coming to fruition and that’s a strike rate even the most lenient of record companies is liable to baulk at.
Of course, ‘Fearing & White’ isn’t really a ‘debut’ album at all as the creative culprits are none other than STEPHEN FEARING (one third of the great Blackie & the Rodeo Kings) and ANDY WHITE, the critically-acclaimed Belfast-born singer/ songwriter. Individually, they have amassed back catalogues most of us would sell significant family members for, but because both has an outside career to take care of, these thirteen co-written songs had ended up on the back burner for quite some time.
The fact they live on opposing sides of the globe these days – Fearing in Canada and White in Melbourne, Australia – hasn’t exactly been conducive either, but it’s amazing what patience, fortitude and putting your trust in a mutual friendship can achieve. Visiting each other on a regular basis over the years, the two of them honed these songs, played them live on intermittent concert tours and finally got to record them when schedules and a deal from the Canadian Lowdenproud label fell into place.
Happily, persistence has paid off, for ‘Fearing & White’ is a little gem. It’s the sort of world-weary, but wonderful album that only two such seasoned troubadours could have made and the kind of record that proudly wears its’ melodic heart on its’ sleeve.
Made in the time honoured ‘live in the studio’ tradition, with Fearing handling most of the electric guitars, White playing a very adroit, Macca-style violin bass and old mate Ray Ferrugia settling in behind the drum kit for about half the tunes, ‘Fearing & White’ veers between tight, compact Roots-Pop and a brace of graceful, intimate acoustic affairs. The songs are all co-writes, and while lead vocals are shared in a democratic fashion, both men complement each other with additional harmonies and melody lines.
The album’s first half contains most of the ‘poppier’ numbers. Kicking us off, ‘Say You Will’ is a bright and charming two-step wherein opposites attract (“I know I’m a bum and you are a queen/ but I’ll put the honey in the gasoline”), while ‘What We Know Now’ is the sort of meltingly lovely late summer pop that can only come from years of experience. The biggest noise is made by the blues-y stomper ‘Under the Silvery Sky’ which finds White and Fearing trading Dylan-esque verses (“I was a nervous mess, you wore an old French dress/ and a flower-filled leopard-skin halo”) before bringing it on home with an anthemic chorus.
|
Interspersed with these are poised, redemptive acoustic ballads like ‘Let Love Be Your Direction’ and the John Lennon-inclined ‘You Can’t Count on Anyone Anymore’ wherein White poignantly enquires “what are people voting for?” In a world where economies are going down the tubes faster than dirty water, it’s a damn good question.
Despite the punchier early numbers, the album’s heart lies in the stripped-back second half. Some of the songs are soaked in wistful sadness (‘October Lies’, ‘Dream Maker’), although there’s also room for the upbeat folk-blues of ‘Heart o’ the Morning’ where White slightly coyly hints at a travelling troubadour’s temptations (“I wouldn’t have said that breakfast in bed with this singer was out of the question”) and the scarred ‘If I Catch You Crying’ which is very much the other side of the emotional coin.
Sounding remarkably natural and focussed for a record that has taken over a decade to nail, ‘Fearing & White’ stacks up as an impressive addition to two already enviable back catalogues. Let’s hope there’s an opportunity for a follow-up and preferably before another decade slips through everyone’s fingers.
Fearing & White online
Lowdenproud Records website
|
