- Jun 25, 2021
GENESIS: STRICTLY COME FOXTROT
Travelling home from Devon today so Fifty3 Fridays should return in its regular guise next week. Meanwhile here is a diversion, but a wonderful one at that. Let’s just hope there isn’t a long one on the A303. Actually, I wrote that bit earlier and there wasn’t, though the journey with stops still took seven hours. Originally I was going to leave this one until October 2022 when it will be 50 years old but, necessity being the mother of invention, let’s dust it off now. So, I
- Jun 18, 2021
AL STEWART: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE REVISITED
A short staycation in Devon beckons today and so we are taking a break from regular Fifty3 Fridays, the land of new music and most things independent. So, marvel instead as we revisit a record from the glorious days of the concept album. This one will be 48 years old come October and sounds as grand today as when it was first received. If 'tis songs with a historical bent that ye seek, look no further than Al Stewart’s 1973 vintage construct in time travel, Past, Present & F
- Jun 11, 2021
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: BETTER DAYS
So, we have good days, we have bad days. Today is already shaping up to be a better day, courtesy of that one-man indie hit machine and AFC Bournemouth superfan, Alex Hall. His beloved Cherries may have failed in their bid to bounce back into the Premier League this year but if the team ever need a new anthem, I know a man who can. Alex Hall has wooed us with a series of superlative singles over the past year and today drops “Better Days Are Coming” on a public that should la
- Jun 4, 2021
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: CARRYING THE BATON
Over the past decade Little Majorette, the musical pseudonym of English singer songwriter Zoe Durrant, has taken different paths after starting as a collaboration with Swedish musicians Petter Winnberg and Nils Törnqvist which produced the standout debut album, Rifle Heart, in 2011. After the trio disbanded in 2015, Durrant continued to write songs and her distinctive vocals became very much in demand by a raft of artistes and producers. She also released a chilled solo EP, I
- Jun 2, 2021
TRACK BY TRACK: THE YEAR YOU’LL NEVER GET BACK BY PAPER ANTHEM
Paper Anthem is the musical vehicle of Fayetteville, Arkansas singer, musician and songwriter Joseph Hitchcock. You may recall me enthusing about Paper Anthem’s third album, The Year You’ll Never Get Back, when it was unleashed in April. While the title suggests a product of pandemic, the record in fact has a much longer timeline with most songs dating from 2016 around a time Hitchcock confesses to have experienced particular personal and emotional pressures. I consider this