While JACK SAVORETTI’S CV may be an impressive read in 2012, it don’t impress me much. His producer Martin Terefe is previously responsible for much of the MOR mulch (James Morrison, Jason Mraz) W&H usually tries to avoid like the plague. His co-writer is Steve Booker (responsible for the equally dreary Duffy) and the regularly-flown comparisons (Paolo Nutini, Mraz and Morrison again) are almost enough to have this child of 1977 donning the balaclavas and preparing the Molotovs.
An initial dip into the waters suggested the initial dire prognosis was deserved. Piano-led, vaguely epic Coldplay-ish plodders such as ‘Changes’ and ‘Breaking The Rules’ did little to suggest Savoretti was more than yet another darkly handsome, mildly bohemian troubadour clogging up an increasingly desperate industry running on diminishing returns.
Scarier, though, was the fact I had to admit a sneaky liking for a track called ‘The Proposal’: a sprightly country-tinged rocker with a discernible shadow of The Eagles’ ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling’ about it. Yet, on balance, embracing this guilty pleasure proved surprisingly positive. It made me listen again to ‘Before The Storm’ in more detail and – gradually – it began to turn on the charm.
Several detailed listens to ‘Before The Storm’ later and I’m (pleasantly) surprised to report that much of it’s not half bad at all. The sparse, semi-acoustic feel really suits the likes of redemptive confessionals such as ‘Not Worthy’ and the gorgeously fragile ‘Crazy Fool’; smouldering new single ‘Take Me Home’ shows Savoretti can do the restless, wandering minstrel thing with more credibility than most and the haunting ‘Vagabond’ pulls off the kind of restlessly romantic storyboard that wouldn’t have disgraced Phil Lynott.
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The track sequence has also been compiled with care which ensures you come away from ‘Before The Storm’ with a highly positive feeling. Indeed, from ‘Last Call’ on, it’s a delight. ‘Last Call’ itself is bittersweet, jazzy and convincing; ‘Come Shine A Light’ re-casts the upbeat, country-tinged canter of ‘The Proposal’ entirely in its own image and deserves kudos for Savoretti’s soulful vocal and that wonderful, rolling, spit’ n’ sawdust pub piano alone. The album’s title track veers close to big ballad territory again, but this time gets it right. The arrangement is spot on, while Savoretti’s gutsy vocal is superb. The meltingly lovely ‘Crazy Fool’ (“when I’m homeless, you give me shelter/ when I’m worthless, you make me better”) is then on hand to provide the perfect under-stated full stop.
‘Before The Storm’, then, is the very epitome of a grower. Its beauty can initially seem a bit too MOR to be more than skin deep, but stick around, give it time and attention and you’ll find there’s depth, grace and emotion to balance out the radio-friendly gloss. Listen without prejudice and be richly rewarded.
Jack Savoretti online
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