Luke Jackson

I have to admit that I’m a little surprised that it has taken two years for this album to appear. Recorded at Aerosol Grey Machine in Sweden in 2007 and originally released in 2008 I have finally got my hands on it and I believe that it was worth the wait.

Jackson gathered together some of his favourite musicians and got members of Magnus, Brainpool and Roxette as well as Roxette’s genius producer Christoffer Lundquist working on Jackson’s complex and melodic pop and the result is rather fine. To cap it all off he was lucky enough to get Robert Kirby to write orchestrations and arrange the strings – the same Robert Kirby that did such a magnificent job for Nick Drake, John Cale and Elvis Costello – as the last piece he worked on before his death last year. So far and so all the pieces are in place for a great album – providing that the songs are up to the elements.

Needless to say, at least they are if you are reading this, much of the album is wonderful and much is simply gorgeous.
It takes a few listens to really get the quality of Jacksons writing but he crafts a song with some wondrous skills and there is a range to his styles and forms that suggests a writer of rare talent. Moving from the explosive and joyous pop of ‘Goodbye London’ – happy to be shot of the trials and tribulations of London town – with its riffery and backing chorus and speed-freak drumming into the introverted and keening ‘A Little Voice’ with dense and depressive orchestration and simply guitar and voice shows a breadth of talent.

The pop-rock stuff is great but the songs that really stay with you are the ballads – numbers like ‘All I Can Do’ and the album closer ‘The Fear’ really show his ability to craft a song and wring an emotion.
Cracking album and a worthy epitaph for Robert Kirby as well.