Full Review

Boo Hewerdine – God Bless the Pretty Things

Boo Hewerdine is an artist whose name will be known to many in the UK – he’s been on the edges of the creative music scene for the past twenty years, either as a group member, a collaborator with artists such as Eddi Reader & Clive Gregson, or as a solo performer.
His style has always been difficult to pin down, but his consistency and quality as both a writer and performer have given him a devoted following, but this new album along with a new deal with Navigator Records should deservedly bring him to a wider audience.

His varied career and collaborations have made him a hard man to pin down stylistically – he’s a solid writer with an ear for a great lyric, but the real magic here is in the lightness of touch that is evident throughout. He uses a fairly big group of musicians and guests who include John McCusker, Heidi Talbot, Ewan Vernal and Justin Currie, and the instrumentation includes guitars, percussion, fiddle, whistle, strings, lap steel, Wurlitzer and more, but the whole album is gentle, breezy and superbly produced.

This lightness that runs across the instrumentation is accentuated by Hewerdine’s understated delivery, his vocals are not lacking in drama or colour, but everything is perfectly controlled throughout, from the light acoustic pop sound of ‘Geography’ through to the superb expressiveness in ‘New Year’s Eve’ he balances the instrumentation and vocals perfectly.

‘God Bless the Pretty Things’ is an excellent album, it’s beautifully written and performed, and while it effortlessly flows over the listener, it’s a precise, detailed album that reveals more of its charm on repeated listens – it’s a disc that has been crafted with real care by one of the UK’s most gifted contemporary singer/songwriters.