This is Not Me… We reckon at least six of them definitely are, though
Review: Jonny Walker – This is Not Me
Published on February 15th, 2013 | Jonny Abrams
Jonny Walker is not just a keen buskers’ rights activist but also a Thoroughbred part of the lifeblood and brickwork of Britain’s sacrosanct network of travelling troubadours. His new five-track EP This is Not Me is characteristic of the man: heartfelt, unpretentious and utterly charming.
The immediately embracing and Nick Drake-y drop-D of opener “Beautiful Morning” casts it as a simple song stuck in a spellbindingly enlightened moment – it benevolently welcomes in some sweet string and moves on to “Song For Bernie”, a fragile, Ralph McTell-like piece of folky storytelling accompanied by lusciously dolorous cello. “She never missed the chance to move her beaten body, broken badly with the beat / To briefly find herself at one with the music of the street” Walker sings tenderly, tacitly empathising with that particular oneness. Lovely Beatles-y chord progression to the chorus, too.
“Last Waltz of the Summer” oversees a Dylan-y outbreak of organs and a shuffling triplet rhythm roughly in keeping with the title, with “We are just wastrels and chancers / Too eager to cut all our ties” further evidencing Walker’s canny way with a lyric. The ensuing title track finds a man trying to make sense of it all, determined to see the beauty amidst all the pain, and finally the seafaring mute-strum of “Strange Disease” throws in a delicious major 7th chord or two on its way towards a Shack-ishly psychedelic ending.
If you do happen to pass Jonny Walker on the streets of Leeds or Liverpool, be sure to stop and commend him on a jolly fine EP.
Rocksucker says: Four Quails out of Five!
This is Not Me EP is out now and available at www.jonnywalker.co.uk
About the Author
Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.
