One of the things that most annoys me about the Stoke music scene, is the fact that there are many musicians out there, making great music, who seem to be completely ignored. I'm not sure of the exact reason. I'm not sure why we have an abundance of mediocre lad rock bands, who seem to be the 'be all and end all' of Stoke. What I am sure of though, is that if you delve deep enough, you'll find some truly outstanding musical talent.
Introducing Jon White: the guy who writes music for If This Is A Man, and the guy you've never heard of.
I first stumbled upon Jon's music a couple years back, and have been keeping an eye out for new songs, updates and general happenings since then. And to be fair, there wasn't too much action taking place as far as I could see, and I had just about lost interest. Luckily though, although it seemed he wasn't, Jon was indeed working hard on new material, and he sent me his new album a couple months ago - and I'm really glad he did.
All it takes is the first song from There Is Hope In Small Things, to realise that If This Is A Man deserves plenty of attention from the music lovers of Stoke. The samples from poem 'Lady Lazarus' by Sylvia Plath fit so well with track one, aptly named 'Lazarus', it's hard to believe they were recorded decades apart. It's a fantastic introduction to the album, and a great lead into track two 'Believe', which is where Jon's vocals kick in, which I can only describe as some sort of Ben Gibbard/Elliott Smith hybrid.
I really like the whispery vocal style throughout the album, which is sometimes skewed and pulled by vocal effects, creating a mysterious, and submerged like sound. And it's quite clear to realise that all instruments here have been worked on, and all instruments have been considered. There's not just distorted guitars; there's all kinds of sounds and instruments, layered upon each other, and when you consider this is a one man project, you can't help but feel impressed.
After quite a few listens, it's hard for me to pick out a stand out track. I've been going about my business all week and various If This Is A Man songs keep appearing in my head - which is a great indication to how good this album is. If I had to pick one though, it'd have to be title track 'There Is Hope In Small Things', simply because this track shows you both sides of the album, starting off with some beautiful sounding piano and vocals, which halfway through become accompanied by electronic beats (which are pure gorgeous!) before erupting into a synth driven frenzy.
This is an extremely well crafted album that flickers between real instruments and electronic effects flawlessly, and flows from beginning to end like any good album should. I also have to mention the intervals and shorter instrumental songs scattered throughout, which I am personally am a massive fan of - it seems to help the album flow graciously, and makes things so much more interesting.
I hope that people reading this will venture to If This Is A Man's site and have a listen. I also hope that the lesser known musicians of this city will someday be at the forefront of the scene, as they deservedly should be.
Jake Carter
