Manchester Punk Festival Releases 38th Compilation
Manchester Punk Festival have released the 38th volume of their compilation series ahead of this year’s festival. Manchester Punk Festival Vol. 38 is…
Effortless Insecurity - Midnight Stamp Records
When starting to write this piece on the new album by Carol Hodge, it occurred to me after reading the PR, that I couldn’t even come close to writing a better description, so I’m not gonna try…… “Carol Hodge is a seven-fingered, piano-pounding, Yorkshire-dwelling Singer-Songwriter. Think Linda Ronstadt meets Chelsea Wolfe, but with fewer digits and a continuous existential crisis, sandwiched between bitter irony and relentless optimism. You won’t know whether to laugh or cry, but will definitely feel something.”
This is Carol’s fifth studio album, and if your not familiar with the name, then just think back to the last time you heard Crass live over the past few years, yes she is the amazing vocal wonder backing Steve Ignorant up. Having listened to at least the last two before this one again recently, it definitely occurred to me that this is a much fiercer beast than the others in many ways. Take the opener ‘Manoeuvres’ in which the phenomena of the modern age, social media, takes the brunt of her sharp tongue. The fake world we live in online is laid bare here, it’s musically heavier too, with some Crass inspiration that morphs into a rock beast.
‘Gimme A Break’ drops in next, this is full of that piano wonderfulness that Carol Hodge lovers will recognise, but this is pure theatre at its heart, a Kate Bush with attitude song is what my ears hear, but then that could be said about much of this album. ‘I’ll Do The Begging’ is one of the softer sounding tracks, but this doesn’t allow for a let up in the lyrical toughness, a tale of how we as humans seem not to allow ourselves to actually admit defeat or forgive others easily. ‘Queen Of Fitting In’ follows the beautiful musical theme, the strings on this just let it soar, and the fear of not “fitting in” and being the weird one in the room lyrics are sung with such feeling, your left with no doubt at all as to where the words came from (the heart, and the head).
Its only when you get to ‘Oversized Bag’ that I felt some of the older Carol Hodge sound squeezed back in, a more melodic sounding song without being just forgettable pop, its a shooting star that burns bright for a moment within a very dark album, a story of love and friendship. But then this blends seamlessly into the stunning piano track ‘Ever Reliable Pain’ which regardless of your disposition I challenge you not to feel some kind of affinity for. Everyone needs a comfort blanket, a part of their life that’s always there when they need it.
As mentioned at the beginning, this is without doubt fierce in its body, but when you scratch below the tough surface, its also truly an insightful and yet vulnerable ten song moment in life.
Out now on streaming sites, out via CD and Vinyl on 31st January
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