Released 26/05/08, Vertigo Records



There have been so many amazing albums in recent years that is hard to choose just one; with the likes of Kid A by Radiohead, The Strokes' Is This It, and Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights, blah blah blah. I could just keep going and going. There are so many obvious choices but personally I prefer to back the underdog so that is why I’m choosing an album that whispers brilliance rather than shouting and boasting about how good they are. That’s why I have gone for Johnny Flynn’s beautiful debut A Larum.


I both love and hate Johnny Flynn. I love him because he is a witty, charming, handsome, multi talented young man who writes lyrics and songs that are worthy of any artist three times his senior. This is also the main reason why I hate him.


Straight from the off with the first notes of opener “The Box” you feel as if you need to grab the first girl in sight and swing her round at 100mph whilst toothless hillbillies watch on in envy. His skill at writing up tempo, catchy folk gems is apparent throughout this album with songs such as “Eyeless in Holloway”, “Tickle me Pink” and “Leftovers” causing mass sing-along’s wherever he goes, like the pied piper of folk but without the child stealing.  With the Sussex Wit behind him and his sister Lillie on backing vocals this very much feels like a family affair which only adds to the albums charm. A Larum sounds as if it could have been recorded in the back room of an old country pub out in the sticks, and you have just stumbled in unknown and uninvited, but rather than the music stopping and the awkward silence of the locals staring daggers at you they welcome you in with open arms and (perhaps) buy you a pint.


Personally though I feel it is the slower more melancholy songs such as “Shore to Shore” and the beautiful (and personal favourite) “The Wrote and the Writ” where Johnny really shows off his craftsmanship with prose and literature.  Sighting some his influences as Shakespeare and W.B Yeats you can tell that he is wise beyond his years at a mere 26 years old; from listening to his lyrics you would think he has had a long and troubled life full of heartbreak.



“If your born with a love of the wrote and the writ, people of letters your warning stands clear

Pay heed to your heart and not to your wit, don’t say in a letter what you can’t in my ear.”



I recently found out that A Larum means a signal or warning and I believe that this is what this debut is; because with the recent release of his Sweet William EP and a new album and tour with the Sussex Wit in the New Year Johnny Flynn is only going to go from strength to strength.



                   

Posted In Music Of The Noughties, Nov 25 2009. Words - Si Edwards