Teddy Thompson
(Verve Forecast)
Releasing his fifth solo album on the eve of his 35th birthday, Teddy Thompson continues to be overshadowed by his parents, musical legends Richard and Linda Thompson. He's inherited from his father a desire to connect his music to the darker undercurrents of real life, not to mention the ability to cast an ironic (and frequently self-deprecating) eye on his subjects. From his mother, he inherited a rich and supple set of vocal chords, transposed from an alto to a tenor register.
Thompson's first two records, the self-titled debut in 2000 and 2006's long-delayed follow-up Separate Ways, shared some of the folk influences he learned from mom and dad. His 2007 release, Upfront and Down Low, was a well-meaning if considerably under-cooked tribute to honky tonk country. But then, with 2008's A Piece of What You Need, Thompson came into his own as a pop songwriter, running in footsteps best trod by Crowded House. Bella is more of the same, with an added musical twist provided by the orchestrations of producer David Kahne.
Kahne reveals a talent he'd not found much use for working over the last 25 years with the likes of the Bangles, Paul McCartney, the Strokes, or Sublime. He can write string arrangements from the point of view of a pop music fan, and Thompson wanted strings to slot into his guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums line-up. The strings are so well-integrated into the arrangements of Thompson's songs that one hopes he can afford at least a handful of players to come out on tour with him.
The song "Over and Over" makes use of strings in such a fashion as to make the rock band (guitar, keys, bass, and drums) seem like the afterthought. Thompson crafted a simple and urgent melodic indictment of his own insecurities: "I shit on myself so that nobody else can" pretty much sets the tone here. Kahne provides cushions of tight viola wrapped around Thompson's acoustic guitar, and then builds a complexly thrilling orchestral arrangement around the full band as Thompson's rich tenor lets the tune soar. Questioning one's right to be loved never sounded so beautiful.
"Looking For a Girl" and "The One I Can't Have" each wring humor from the eternal search for a potential lover, but "Take Me Back Again" is a heartfelt plea for forgiveness and "Gotta Have Somebody" opens up the meaning of his desire for something beyond just a sex partner. In fact, when the soberly upbeat guitar solo, which sounds like Richard Thompson here, takes over at the end, it sounds as though Teddy Thompson has no intention of shooting his loving potential in the foot again.
Thompson is not afraid to go for big hooks - "Looking For a Girl," which opens the album, is an irresistibly driving pop number with humor way over the top. His perfect fantasy involves "Someone who turns my bread into buttered toast." He also can write delicately and truthfully of the roles one never leaves inside of a family in the beautiful and compelling "Home," a song made stronger with some deft string section counterpoint, and a neat twist at the end on the changing meaning of the title.
He's not exactly on the cutting edge of contemporary indie rock, but Thompson is coming into his own as a legacy act of intelligent, biting pop music. Bella is beautiful and enticing, and that's more than enough to make up for its lack of trendiness.
DOWNLOAD: "Looking For a Girl," "Home," "Gotta Have Someone" STEVE PICK
