Devizes favourite southern fried gothic-Delta blues one man band, JP Oldfield has an EP released at the end of the week, Saltwater Gospel. It’s a six gun shooter of length and breadth, classed as an EP, but contains enough poignant narrative, dark twisted swagger, and redemption, for an album to have causally swung through those saloon doors instead…..
It’s been a year and half since his kazoo-blowing often playful yet dark underwired debut Bouffon, and Saltwater Gospel tests that time and toil as if it’s been decades of progression. This isn’t Bouffon’s collection of individual observations, it’s a complete concept to savour in one evocative bout.
This is JP sombrely unabridged and deliberately raw, still skillfully better, defined and crafted to a level you’ve not heard him before. To assume this a “refreshing” notion won’t set the mood; this EP will hit you like a dust storm from the off, but mostly its brilliance lies in its narrative.
The six songs perpetuate a saga of desperation and balance, and a metaphorical shanty of dark gothic blues. Influenced by The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, yet developing its own mythology, Josh has put the overtime in on this EP’s drafts. Relying on the mythic tone and the classic theme of a tragic figure trapped between worlds, JP’s Ferryman cuts off his story as he reaches a dark turning point. The whole EP is a continuation of his journey, condemning a sinner and a wayward priest, in the hope of finding his release.
Trading his silent oars for the secrets of the tide, he becomes more a shadow in the fog to the unrepentant, than a savior; a collector of unpaid debts. For if the laws of man would not restore the balance, he decided, then the law of the deep must prevail. Josh treats the ocean as a meticulous accountant, as wayward priests sink beneath the waves, and life and death stand side-by side, but a conclusion here would be a spoiler!
The first song is a scene setter, reminding me of classic Who rock operas, yet spanning across an American badland. The second ups the tempo, it’s a jump blues with MoonCalf Studio producer Nick Beere’s stylised harmonica, and something Howlin’ Wolf would nod to.
The Americana is thick and authentic, the tracks run as three minute heroes as the story pushes on. The standout lies at its centre; Further From Heaven is the magnum opus not only of the EP, but of Josh’s work to date. It’s Johnny Cash in too deep; a seven minute chronicle in itself, despite the EP being a contained concept to listen wholly, and it’s masterfully executed with film score epics, hypnotic macabre, and chants of fatalistism, as the plot twists.
JP then brings it full circle with something more upbeat in sound rather than psychological lift, and there’s a five minute conclusion which builds in layers, and reveals the derivation of Josh’s complex ratiocination. The story is compelling, but the ripping of a patch guarding his own personal reflection on his recovered medical issue, and the realisation “life is too short not to pursue the things you genuinely want to do.”
There’s a niche here, always is with something out on a limb, personally there was never room for disparagement within Josh’s poignant and humble creations. Carnivores craving an Abba tribute on a Saturday night might criticise melancholic outpourings, a risk every musical expressionist of pensive woe faces. And if you’ve been scathing about JP Oldfield in the past, this is a game changer. This is his Born to Run, the release to set his initial benchmark.
JP Oldfield rightfully takes the release of Saltwater Gospel on tour, I’ll pop the poster below, and there’s a launch at The Fold in Devizes on Friday 25th September, with Deadlight Dance in support.
