An
uncommonly good new singer and songwriter,
Chris Harford, a native
of Princeton, makes his local debut tonight
at Khyber Pass with his band, the
First
Rays of
the New Rising Sun. Harford's first album,
Be Headed (Elektra), features an impressive
and
unusual list of musicians, including Richard
Thompson, Loudon Wainwright III, Toshi Reagon,
former Dylan sidemen David Mansfield and
Howie Wyeth, members of the Rollins Band, and
another
Jersey musician, the exceptional bassist
Wilbo Wright. Harford has a spooky voice — he
sings the first track, "Raise the Roof," in
a high, gruff whisper — but the depth and
solid foundation of his music is quickly apparent.
He can rock hard or soft, and occasionally the
guitars show a grungy influence that's closer
to Neil Young than Nirvana. One can detect a
bunch of other influences as well, from rockers
on both sides of the Atlantic. Many
of the songs — such
as "Blanket of Snow" (recorded in Philly
at Studio Red) and "Unsaid Things" — are
downright beautiful. Others, like "Swinging
Bridge" and the roaring "Living End," have
majestic presence, yet the emotion is never abandoned. "You
Know Me Best" (recorded live and featuring
Thompson on acoustic guitar) and "My Little
Sadness" are quietly delicate. "Road
With You," an immediate standout, exudes
a delightfully wacky raunchiness. Best of
all, Harford's lyrics are deeply felt, emerging
from some personal place within, making Be
Headed
a special and important debut.
Chris Harford has
spent several years recording demos in his South
Jersey home, enjoying a reputation as a rather
reclusive muse. This debut, featuring studio
versions of his
demo highlights, lives up to the unearthed-treasure
expectations of this publicity-shy approach. These
plain-wrapped, urgently romantic songs are recorded
with a cast of Chris' impeccably hard-rocking pals
(Andrew Weiss and Sim Cain from the Rollins Band,
Gene and Dean Ween, Matt Coleman and Sweeney, both
ex-Skunk), toughening up the songs and boosting
Harford's threshold-of-despair settings to perilous
heights
without senselessly straining or becoming bombastic
and overblown. With some parallels to Mathew Sweet's
less-shiny side or to Mark Lanegan's solo album,
Harford's subtle, but heartstring-yanking writing
style zeroes in on our soft spot for vulnerable,
moony psychoballadry. At the same time, his self-absorbed
ingenuousness keeps this from sounding manipulative
and insulting. Not just any sensitive male with
an indie background, Harford's "Living End," "Unsaid
Things," "You Brains" and "Swinging
Bridge" are the sort of songs that we would
kill to be capable of writing when we're in that
introspective, shut-away-the-world-and-mope mood.
Chris Harford makes music
that's so personal — and so universal — it's
downright life-affirming
. As if Harford's soon-to-be-touted
talents weren't enough of a draw, this guitarist/singer-songwriter
brings stellar musicians such as Loudon Wainwright
III, Richard Thompson, Sim Cain and Andrew Weiss
from the Rollins Band, and personal faves The Proclaimers
(Charlie and Craig Reid) into the fold, creating
a seamless, sonorous album that tugs at every emotion.
This rotating roster, a.k.a. The First Rays of
the New Rising Sun, lends an air of bonhomie and
artistry to "Be Headed," yet it's ever-clear,
from the very first kick-butt chord of the majestic,
blues-blessed "Raise the Roof," that
Harford needs no bolstering. Mellifluous and melodic, "Unsaid
Things" also has the power to prick up you
r
ears. "These unsaid things sound strange comin'
from you," Harford sings, his raspy voice
painting vivid images with thought-provoking words.
Fueled by the swamp-rock fervor of David Mansfield's
banjo and pedal steel and the soulful stirrings
of Dave Dunton's Hammond B3, "Swinging Bridge," by
far the most haunting song on the album, turns
Harford's burnished gleam to an all-out shine.
Is "that trip we took too far" an allusion
to suicide or merely a metaphor for another state
of mind? Like most of Be Headed, the answer lies
in the listening... something you're bound to do
time and again.
He slurs, he snarls,
he growls, he howls. And sometimes he just plain
sings. On "Be Headed," his debut album
on Elektra, singer-songwriter Chris Harford evokes
a myriad of moods
and atmospheres by changing
his voice, the way an actor might from role to
role. "The way I sing depends on what I
feel the songs need emotionally," says the
thirty-six-year-old Harford. "Any character
that is created comes after the fact." Combining
an acute poetic sensibility with a boho folk-rock
sound that recalls Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix and
Tom Waits, among others, Harford writes songs
swollen with feelings of joy and sadness. The
world the singer conjures is a poignant place
where friends are friends "until the living
end," where lovers have the courage to say
to their partners, "Take me for all I'm
not," where the perfect antidote to life's
inexplicabilities is to head for the nearest
hootenanny and "sing, breathe, and be merry."
This 30-year-old singer-guitarist-songwriter
came up through the Manhattan club scene in the
80s, and his debut album features appearances by
nearly everyone he m
et along the way, from members
of unheralded local bands to such notables as Richard
Thompson and the Proclaimers. This lineup makes
for a rollicking party atmosphere at times, as
on the aptly named rocker "Raise the Roof," but
Harford also has a pronounced reflective streak.
At least half the songs are from the heart, such
as the acoustic, Dylan-esque "You Know Me
the Best" or "Blanket of Snow," a
lovely, countrified slow dance dominated by piano
and slide guitar. Stylistically, Harford is a unitarian.
You can hear echoes of Hoboken pop and Television-era
CBGB's, of Big Star and Neil Young. But in the
end he's an unabashed rocker, enthralled by the
sound of the electric guitar, be it thick, distorted,
deliberated chords or hard-charging, blues-rock
leads. Like Mathew Sweet, who also had a recent
breakthrough record, Harford is a versatile artist
w
ho's not afraid to cut loose.
You'll notice his roots
first, since Chris Harford's witty tunes echo everything
from T.Rex and Ziggy Bowie to Plastic Ono Lennon
and early Neil Young. But this delightful debut
does more than replay highlights from two decades
ago. Breathless and wild-eyed, Harford aspires
to nothing less than the white-heat passions of
his ancestors, rocking with a killer edge on the
intricate "Raise the Roof," then emitting
a muted primal scream to the reflective strains
of "If You Forget Me." Whether tough
or tender, the lad makes each song seem like a
page from his diary, not some glib show-biz gimmick.
Harford also has craft to burn. Clever without
being precious, he's a big beat philosopher who
captures the essence of the cosmic search by observing, "Just
when you think yo
u've got a grasp / Something happens,
makes you realize that you know nothing at all," only
to conclude, sensibly, that we should "sing,
breathe, and be merry." Amid his soulful excursions,
it's easy to overlook the first-rate supporting
cast, which includes Richard Thompson, Loudon Wainwright,
the Proclaimers, and reliable David Mansfield,
whose spiffy violin lends Top 40 potential to "Unsaid
Things." Whatever your standards, "Be
Headed" measures up.
Back at last with
his second solo album after an intriguing debut
on Elektra that didn't make him a househould
name four years ago, Chris Harford seems content
to downsize for the present. Gone with the wind
are the glossy production touches, soundbites, "Radar
Love"-like instrumental flourishes, and
vocal octave jumps a la Willie "Loco" Alexander.
This time it's down to just Harford's sincere
folkyish wail, a handful of good songs, his guitar/keyboards
prowess, and a few friends (none of whom is Richard
Thompson this time around) to fill in the blanks.
And guess what? Even without guest appearances
by the Proclaimers, Loudon Wainwright III and
Ween, this modest little record does just fine.
Tempos are all
moderate to slow, and the mood
is consistently "last dance." "Chalk
another up to experience," sings Harford
on "Second Guessing." He told me once
he wasn't concerned about "making it" on
a major label, that he'd be content if some small
label would put out his stuff. Good thing, because
that's what happened, and he should be proud
of this one.
Chris Harford has one
of those quietly intense voices that begs your
attention. The sparse arrangements give this double
CD set room to breathe and thrive. Tracks like "Thank
You" make this collection worthy of your attention.
Harford's voice is expressive,
unique and at times adrogynous enough to carry
these solid singer/songwriter to Country tunes,
and often the match of voice and material is magic.
But the dozens of songs on this double CD are overwhelming.
Huge two disc deal — 35
songs — that basically separates the moods;
disc one being basically all-acoustic while disc
two is pretty much a band affair. The recordings
obviously span a bit of time — four different
studios and 22 musicians total — but the
whole deal has a clear aesthetic. Harford writes
top notch American roots-rock with hints of Neil
Young and Paul Westerberg. His mood on disc one
is reminiscent of Mark
Eitzel's, and the songs
are all keepers. A real tough thing to pull off
when there's so much to digest. Now will someone
sign him? There's at least one classic album
to be culled from here. Duh?
Reviewed by David
J. Klug
Chris Harford's critically
acclaimed but commercially disappointing major label
debut apparently left him inspired--rolling with
the punches and self-releasing one dynamic record
after another. With Be Headed in 1992, Harford blended
acoustic rock, guitar noise, and a lick of country
edge with his delicate vocal delivery,
and the result
was beautiful pop music. Wake is Harford's fourth
record, after the superb Comet and the ambitious
and excellent 2CD set titled Band of Changes. Harford's
band, Band of Changes, has included Richard Thompson,
Kevin Salem, David Mansfield, Howie Wyeth, Deaner
and Gener Ween, The Proclaimers, and Loudon Wainwright
III to name a few. Harford's collaborations can be
complex, but individually are never too busy or abstract.
On each record he displays his penchant for ethereal
pop and acoustic styling, and he also dabbles in
noise and psychedel
ia. Wake's production team of
Marshall Stax and Adam Lasus is particularly sensitive
to this, as Harford's loudest songs never get buried
in the mix. This is a passionate collection of near
perfect pop rock highlighted by "Joe Strummer's Midnight
Dream," "Hold Me," "Love Is Lies," and "Leaving Anyway." Harford's
a first-rate singer/songwriter and takes rock near
t
o where Matthew Sweet does--though Harford's been
arguably more creative in the long run. He wrote
all tracks on Wake except "Ride With Me," penned
by Evan Dando (The Lemonheads) and presented with
lovely pedal steel by Mansfield. Wake brims with
assorted sounds from distorted guitars, acoustic
guitars, violin, fiddle, and keyboards. Moog and
organs spice the record, while Ja
ne Scarpantoni's
cello playing adds considerable depth. It's another
fine artistic step forward, while his best is yet
to come.
|
Roctober 
