REVIEW: New music from Robyn Hitchcock, Emma Swift's 'Blonde on the Tracks,' and Kimberley Rew. By Harold Lepidus


New music from Robyn Hitchcock, Emma Swift's 'Blonde on the Tracks,' and Kimberley Rew.

By Harold Lepidus


For fans of Robyn Hitchcock and his extended musical family, some exciting news! The self-proclaimed cult figure is working on Midnight Tram to Nowhere, the full-length follow-up to his critically acclaimed eponymous 2017 album, scheduled for release in 2021. He’s recording it in East Nashville, where he shares a home with his partner Emma Swift, who has a new album of Bob Dylan covers, Blonde on the Tracks. Kimberely Rew, Hitchcock’s former band mate in the Soft Boys, also has a couple of recent releases of note.


The Man Downstairs (Tiny Ghost Records)


UPDATE: Hitchcock has just announced the release of The Man Downstairs: Demos & Rarities, a collection of originals and covers unused on the Joe Boyd-produced The Man Upstairs, including Hitchcockian takes on "Born In Time" by Bob Dylan, Nick Drake's "River Man," Syd Barrett's "Arnold Layne," and "The Tower Song" by Townes Van Zandt. Available on CD and download from the artist-friendly Bandcamp.


Robyn Hitchcock: Midnight Tram to Nowhere.


First I’ll bring you up-to-date on Midnight Tram to Nowhere. If you subscribe to Hitchcock’s Patreon page, you’ve already had the opportunity to download demos of two new songs, “The Raging Muse (Fish in the Grass)” and “Upgrade Me.” Additionally, Hitchcock and Swift usually perform 50 minute concerts from their kitchen twice weekly -  Wednesday evenings for the U.S., Friday afternoons for Britain and Europe - on Stage It, for a small suggested donation per show. Here Hitchcock previewed “Upgrade Me” and another new composition, “For My Sins.” Among the recent unreleased songs Hitchcock has publicly performed pre-Covid 19 are “The Night’s Alive,” “Spangle Rock,” “I’m So Helplessly in Love,” “Those Guys Are All Dead Now,” “Brenda Badvibes,” “Twee Beret,” and “Continuum,” all, some, or none of which may appear on the album. Both The Man Downstairs and Midnight Tram to Nowhere will be on the couple's own label, Tiny Ghost.


"The Dog Song" (Illustrated by Kimberley Rew)


Kimberley Rew and Lee Cave-Berry: Enjoy the Rest of Your Day and Sunshine Walkers 


The husband and wife team of Kimberley Rew and Lee Cave-Berry have released two excellent albums recently - last year’s Enjoy the Rest of Your Day, and the new compilation, Sunshine Walkers, a sly reference to Rew’s biggest hit from his days with Katrina and the Waves, “Walking On Sunshine.” Rew is also responsible for “Going Down to Liverpool,” a minor hit for the Bangles, and “Love Shine a Light,” which won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest. 


"Flat Cat"


These two Kim & Lee albums bring to mind an updated version of the early days of New Wave, back when it was fun and exciting and quirky and clever. Enjoy the Rest of Your Day in particular confirms Rew has lost none of his wit or chops. Imagine, if you will, Kim and Lee as Rockpile reincarnated, except with Rew as Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe, if the latter had somehow morphed into an optimist. Kimberley’s guitar playing is also deceptively impressive. One minute he’s riffing like Chuck Berry, the next he’s intricately finger picking like Richard Thompson. However, he’s never showboating, and always in service to the songs. 


"Backing Singer Blues"


Enjoy the Rest of Your Day is reminiscent of Lowe’s Pure Pop For Now People - the U.S. version of Jesus of Cool - although Kim and Lee have their own stripped down poppy sound. The album is also a stroll through a century of musical styles, which expands even further on the Sunshine Walkers compilation, from British pop and music hall to rockabilly, garage, psychedelia, lounge, ska, love ballads, kids songs, and even more genres than I care to list here. Additionally, the inspired lyric meter is always in the red. Instead of trying to convey Rew’s senses working overtime on these recordings, please check out the embedded videos of some of my favorite tracks.


"I Cry at Weddings"

While Rew writes and sings most of the material, bassist Cave-Berry, who would be sharing the Nick Lowe duties in this scenario, gets to shine on a few choice cuts, particularly  “Backing Singer Blues,” an upbeat look at being 20 feet from stardom. Sunshine even includes “Stomping All Over the World,” backed by the Soft Boys, from his early mini-album, Bible of Bop.  

"Stomping All Over the World" 
(With the Soft Boys: Robyn Hitchcock, Matthew Seligman, and Morris Windsor)


In short, if you love articulate, intricate pop, updated as an antidote to these troubled times, look no further than these two albums by Kim & Lee.   


"Flower Superpower"



If you buy Sunshine Walkers from their official website, you also get five exclusive tracks, including their versions of: 
  • "Walking on Sunshine"
  • "Love Shine a Light"
  • "Going Down to Liverpool"
  • "Kingdom of Love" 
  • "Waiting on Food Time" ... (their cats version of "Walking on Sunshine")
"You're a Big Girl Now"


Emma Swift: Blonde on the Tracks

In the 1960s and 70s, covering Bob Dylan compositions was an art unto itself. Since then, not so much. Aside from the 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration in 1992, how many other recent tributes come to mind, and how many have you listened to lately? (Robyn Hitchcock excluded.)


I believe it was rock critic Lester Bangs who postulated that there were only two reasons to even attempt a cover version. Although I cannot find the exact quote, in essence they were to either completely change the song and make it your own, or blow the original out of the water, and that theorem certainly applies to the list of early, important Dylan interpreters. From Peter, Paul & Mary to the Byrds, from Elvis to the Everlys, from Joan to Judy, from Havens to Hendrix, interpreting the Bard of Hibbing was almost a requirement, a hipper alternative to the oft-raided Lennon & McCartney songbook. 


Those early interpretations were all over the place - folk, acid rock, R&B, country, both mainstream and underground - and these covers often outsold Dylan’s originals. Yet many of these versions exposed previously hidden colors and made the songs shine anew. Certainly by the time of Dylan’s motorcycle accident in 1966, much of the humor that was an important part of his appeal fell by the wayside as the underground press emerged, and Rock lost its Roll and was re-branded as Serious Art. 


Well, there’s another way to successfully cover other people’s material - Handle them with care. Australian singer Emma Swift, currently quarantined in Tennessee with Mr. Hitchcock and their two cats, Ringo and Tubby, is about to release Blonde on the Tracks, a project that overcomes all the hurdles and expectations of such a massive undertaking. Although Dylan disciple Hitchcock is a participant, as are local collaborators The Nashville Fabs, it’s neighbor Patrick Sansone of Wilco who is responsible for the sympathetic, Wrecking Crew-like production, with phantom cameos that capture the essence of Roger McGuinn’s 12-string Rickenbacker and Al Kooper’s organ. The result is an album that freezes Dylan’s music in 1965, a bygone era when he would share space in magazines like Teen Scrapbook, and be treated like any other ordinary pop star of the day. 


"I Contain Multitudes"


Blonde on the Tracks covers seven Dylan compositions from ‘65 to ‘75, plus the recent “I Contain Multitudes,” one of two tracks recorded in quarantine. There’s been so much analysis of Dylan and his mystique that the fact he is primarily a poetic songwriter can be overshadowed. Sansone’s production gives Swift a chance to shine as a vocalist and interpreter, in ways only hinted at on previous recordings. Her phrasing contain multitudes, seamlessly melding various genres, with experience masquerading as innocence. There's a sense of purity from the days before the decade-ending assassinations and overdoses. Picture an old-style TV variety show, where beehived and bejeweled divas would flow across the stage, singing the hits of the day to mainstream America, crossing the generation gap into your living room. Now imagine it as a modern day indie album.    


Swift’s delivery conveys a certain connection and understanding, as she comfortably inhabits the sometimes impenetrable lyrics. Interestingly, many of the songs chosen for Blonde on the Tracks convey a decidedly male perspective, which re-frames the content of lyrics, sometimes giving the interpretations a wry, outside-looking-in detachment, which suits Dylan’s own psyche. You can interpret these new covers anyway you want - “You’re a Big Girl Now” can be heard as a heart-to-heart between two friends, “The Man in Me” has transgender overtones, and so on. 


But that’s not the point. These are beautiful songs performed beautifully, wrangled from the past and into the now, pushing Dylan’s subsequent curmudgeonly tendencies to the side. Rediscover these songs as you may have heard them back in the mists of time.  


"Queen Jane Approximately"

(Tiny Ghost Records)

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