Michael Chapman - 50

20.1.17 - BLACK VINYL LP + download

A true late great masterwork among an eclectic discography covering five decades. It's his "American Record" as Michael Chapman calls it, humble as always and to the point. After a 50 year career keeping left of centre of the trappings of the music industry whilst becoming an immeasurable influence and friend of many artists, a collaborative group appear on the album here including Steve Gunn (who also produced), Nathan Bowles (Pelt, Black Twig Pickers), James Elkington (Jeff Tweedy, Richard Thompson), Jason Meagher (No-Neck Blues Band), Jimy SeiTang (Rhyton), and fellow UK songwriting luminary Bridget St John - Chapman tears into both bold renderings of new songs and radical reinterpretations of material from his revered catalog, the crack band adeptly scaling the same rarefied sonic heights of classic Harvest albums like Fully Qualified Survivor, guided by a true survivor's instinct, wit, and wisdom. The result is a sublime chiaroscuro self-portrait, more shadow than light, as an invigorated Chapman wrestles with weighty themes of travel, memory, mortality, and redemption, his world-weary whispers assuming the incandescent power of prophecy.

Tracklist