David Ford - Charge

Ups, da hat wohl jemand nicht richtig aufgepasst!

2009 veröffentlichte der Schotte Alun Woodward (The Delgados) sein erstes Soloalbum unter dem Namen Lord Cut-Glass und wählte für das Cover einen Ausschnitt aus dem Gemälde "Scotland Forever!", das Lady Elizabeth Butler, eine berühmte Schlachtenmalerin, im Jahre 1881 malte. 

Davon scheint David Ford nichts mitbekommen zu haben. Denn er wählte für das Cover seines aktuellen Album - obwohl er nicht aus Schottland stammt - einen nahezu identischen Ausschnitt, der die Royal Scots Greys während der Schlacht von Waterloo im Jahre 1815 zeigt, aus. 

"Charge" lautet der Titel des vierten Albums des Singer/Songwriters, das zusammen mit dem Produzenten James Brown (Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl) in Brooklyn, New York, aufgenommen wurde. Zuvor reiste Ford mehrere Monate durch die USA und diese Einflüsse - von Memphis Soul, über New Orleans Jazz und Südstaaten Blues bis hin zu New Jersey Rock'n'Roll - spiegeln sich auch in den aktuellen 10 Titeln wider. Klassische, dem Folk nahe stehende Singer/Songwriter-Songs mit einem gewissen Pop-Appeal sind auf "Charge" hingegen nur noch schwer zu finden.  

The album reflects those struggles he’s faced as an artist, documenting a disastrous solo tour of the southern US on Pour A Little Poison, describing himself as a “whiny little English boy singing the blues” and “staring at the walls of the Motel 6” over a mouth organ led stomp that you can’t help but tap your feet too. There’s also Philadelphia Boy about the way a crowd in Philadelphia took him to their hearts when he almost broke down on stage during another tour and his subsequent love for the city. 

Most potent is however album closer Every Time, six minutes of musing over missed opportunities, getting shafted by the business and waking up to the realization he’s making music that he loves and that’s what’s important to him.  It’s Ford’s career summed up in one massive explosion of self-exploration.  One criticism occasionally and unfairly thrown at David is that he doesn’t transfer the power and passion of his live shows to record - there can be no such accusations here.

Unlike Ford’s previous albums, there are huge variations in pace and mood as the album progresses.  The Ballad Of Miss Lily is a balls-out stomp about a man falling in love with one of those girls who just want a guy for his money and Let It Burn has a storming funk beat right through the middle of it with guitar licks dropping in and out in the chorus.    And sandwiched between the two is Isn’t It Strange, one of those tender tear-jerking ballads that Ford produces with impressive regularity.  Moving On is another of those, talking of “a mind to let all fortune’s chips fall where they may”.

What’s Not To Love is a simple love song played out on piano with the simple chorus refrain “if you asked me why do I love her, then tell me what’s not to love”.  It’s followed by the highlight of the album Perfect Soul, another love song but from the angle of a man pleading his case to a woman - “if you’re craving romance, then I’ll show up bearing flowers” but with the proviso “don’t go pinning all your hopes on me, I can make you a pretty promise, but that’s no guarantee”.  It’s got some beautiful brass scattered over the chorus and some unusual key changes, but it all fits together perfectly.

Charge may just be Ford’s best album to date.  It doesn’t fit as seamlessly together as the previous ones, but whilst that might be seen as an issue, it’s actually its strength.  Ford has never been an artist to play by the traditional rules and with this album he’s not bound by any pressure to sell tens of thousands of copies so it’s free of any outside constraints or expectations. 

(louder than war)