Welsh musician Richard Thomas branches out a bit on Not Wading, But Drowning, the new album by his Mint Biscuit project. Mostly it is just him and his guitar, but he also reconnected with a couple of mates from his university and school days. On the blues rocker Blue Canary he was joined by Ian Elgy (harmonica) and Simon Edwards (tablas). Chris Spurgeon, who releases music under the Zebra Crossing Sounds alias, wrote and played most of the luscious pop song Feels Like Home, with Thomas leaning back safe for a bit of backing vocals. This change of pace worked out quite well and hopefully there will more of this in the future.
Thomas' sense of displacement has always been a major source of inspiration and his annoyances and pet peeves, both real and imaginary- the latter brought along by the voices in his head - come to the fore in Mo Mowlam's Meadow, A Good Year For Ears and Serve And Obey. Making music serves a release and bearing his soul is pretty brave thing to do, every time he plugs in his guitar and feels his way through the vocals. That being said he also cherishes the good things in life, like letting rip in Rock And Roll or staring at the sky thinking about his wife in Cumulonimbus. He brings the album to a close with a surprise cover, Pistyll Rhaeadr, a reimagination of Pistol of Fire, changing the location to a waterfall in his beloved Wales.
Not Wading, But Drowning is a self-released album. Buy it from his website. A wealth of his output is available on CD via elasticstage.com.
Tracks:- Killer Rabbit
- Blue Canary
- Feels Like Home
- Mo Mowlam's Meadow
- Rock And Roll
- A Good Year For Ears
- Cumulonimbus
- Serve And Obey
- Answers (digital only)
- Mrs Magnolia (digital only - also on Villain Of The Peace)
- Baby's Sleeping
- Dominici Dancing
- Keeps On Raining (digital only)
- Pistyll Rhaeadr
HCTF review of Villain Of The Peace
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