by Ian Diddams
Images by JP Oldfield
Devizine recently ran a review of JP ( aka Josh) Oldfield’s new EP “Saltwater Gospel” … so, this won’t be an in depth repeat of blow-by-blow coverage of said E.P. and gig, rambling on for several pages [TFFT – Ed.]
The physical E.P. itself comes in three parts; the case, a cardboard flip case with hand drawn (no bloody A.I. here) logo on the front, and stylised track listing on the back, all by JP’s own fair hand. Then there is the actual CD itself of course. And also, a small booklet containing a short story in a Norse saga/Celtic story style, inspired in part by “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” written by JP himself. And printed etc. JP learned to linocut to make these CD cases, and each one is its own work of art, slightly unique from others in the limited run of 100 pressings. A true labour of love and true piece of artwork.
The story of has six chapters, regaling the life of the sailor after his wife has died, and the repercussions of his burial choices. There are biblical allegories and/or homages ( “Heavy Was the Rain”, “Further From Heaven”), supernatural allusions (“It’s Just Begun”, “No Rest”) and even quasi Spaghetti Western references (“The Preacher’s Noose”).
Each of the six chapters is directly connected to the six tracks in turn – the story reflected in both text and music. Kids of the 60s and 70s will recognise the idea of a concept album, and this is indeed very much a concept E.P. – perhaps not so much “Prog Rock” but “Prog Blues”. There are no Peter Hammill/Van der Graf Generator twenty-minute tracks on this some may be pleased to hear, but a couple of tracks come in at a healthy almost six, and seven, minutes to touch a cap to that very fine tradition. And whilst an E.P. not an album, nonetheless its six tracks will entertain you the whole journey when driving from Batheaston to Devizes. The production on the CD is absolutely top notch; nothing has been spared. The result is a hypnotic and even heady mix of JP’s self-described Southern Gothic, dark folk, Americana and blues songs that I found myself playing on repeat all this week. The harmonica backing on “Preacher’s Noose” and “Wash Me Away” is just sublime. The driving guitar rhythms, especially in the slower tracks tell a story in themselves.
Thence to “The Tuppeny” in Old Town, Swindon on Thursday, where two hours of JP gave us the entire E.P., stripped back to just his resonator, between other of his own stuff and a couple of covers, delivered very much in JP style.
JP is on tour with this E.P. based show currently (see below) and the EP and other merch is available right >>> here <<<
So there you have it – a brief overview of a cracking new album and the delights of a live show.
[You call that brief? – Ed.]
[ Yes – Ian ]
