The
best records are the ones that are hardest to describe. To name
other artists as reference points is one way, but that's as dangerous
as it is useful. None of the artists that come to mind listening
to Augie March's first album come close to hitting the mark. The
best I can do is to mention that rich vein of music that came out
of New Zealand throughout the Eighties - the Verlaines, the 3Ds,
Tall Dwarfs. There's a touch of Mental Notes Split Enz about the
opening track, the single 'The Hole In Your Roof'. But to mention
those bands is perhaps misleading you, because that might give you
an idea of the 'sound' of this record, but not its essence, which
surrounds the lyrics and the imaginative way they're used. Most
of the time you'll listen to songs and after a while you arrive
at some kind of a meaning, and as you often will read, what you
make of a song isn't necessarily what the writer intended. But we
put ourselves into the songs. When you enter Glenn Richards' songs
they take you by the hand and take you away from your own reality.
You'll enter a land where people live, dream and love, and while
you're forming a relationship with those people the songs are also
describing your surroundings, and you're not quite sure of the time
frame. Is this happening now? Or have you entered some kind of time
warp? You need to let yourself go and let the emotions and the melodies
sweep you along. That's another thing. The melodies. At first you
listen to this record and wonder where and how to enter. It's not
obvious. It needs time. One listen. Two listens. Gradually the melodies
reveal themselves to you. They become those hands that take you
inside Glenn Richards' imagination. They're his songs, but it's
not a solo effort. He's found a group of musicians who help him
work his magic, who colour the scenes Glenn has created. Glenn's
voice is unspectacular and unassuming. He's not trying to impress
you with the quality of his instrument. It's what his instrument
has to work with that counts. I know I'll be listening to this record
for a long long time.
The
best records are the ones that are hardest to describe. To name
other artists as reference points is one way, but that's as dangerous
as it is useful. None of the artists that come to mind listening
to Augie March's first album come close to hitting the mark. The
best I can do is to mention that rich vein of music that came out
of New Zealand throughout the Eighties - the Verlaines, the 3Ds,
Tall Dwarfs. There's a touch of Mental Notes Split Enz about the
opening track, the single 'The Hole In Your Roof'. But to mention
those bands is perhaps misleading you, because that might give you
an idea of the 'sound' of this record, but not its essence, which
surrounds the lyrics and the imaginative way they're used. Most
of the time you'll listen to songs and after a while you arrive
at some kind of a meaning, and as you often will read, what you
make of a song isn't necessarily what the writer intended. But we
put ourselves into the songs. When you enter Glenn Richards' songs
they take you by the hand and take you away from your own reality.
You'll enter a land where people live, dream and love, and while
you're forming a relationship with those people the songs are also
describing your surroundings, and you're not quite sure of the time
frame. Is this happening now? Or have you entered some kind of time
warp? You need to let yourself go and let the emotions and the melodies
sweep you along. That's another thing. The melodies. At first you
listen to this record and wonder where and how to enter. It's not
obvious. It needs time. One listen. Two listens. Gradually the melodies
reveal themselves to you. They become those hands that take you
inside Glenn Richards' imagination. They're his songs, but it's
not a solo effort. He's found a group of musicians who help him
work his magic, who colour the scenes Glenn has created. Glenn's
voice is unspectacular and unassuming. He's not trying to impress
you with the quality of his instrument. It's what his instrument
has to work with that counts. I know I'll be listening to this record
for a long long time.