Singer-songwriters are having some sort of resurgence in the popular media lately. Three of the top five best selling albums in the UK this year have been released by Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Paolo Nutini, all emotive songwriters, not adhering to the pop culture sellout looks and producing. The other two featuring in the top five were Coldplay, equally emotive, and Paloma Faith, who just happens to be A Perfect Contradiction to my argument here.
In terms of musical style, Brian Hadsell is less loud and in your face than those mentioned, but his quiet, soothing sounds is similar to the number one album, I Forget Where We, by Ben Howard. There is a skill in writing quiet, but powerful music that Hadsell achieves by clashing his harsh, soulful voice with beautiful acoustics. He has released two EPs and a single this year on brianmatthewhadsell.bandcamp.com and his mastery is best heard in the latest, The Changing of the Tides Sessions, especially the song Dark N' Stormy. The regularity of the guitar in the background exposes the gradual escalation of his voice, which never loses control of the song despite the moving lyrics. His music is what I like listening to when I'm relaxing and it's too cold to go outside, but I'd like to see his music develop into the ups and downs of a full album release next year.
How I found him was the most extraordinary thing about him. He sent me a personal message on Tumblr as if he knew I'd like his music. And of course he was right, but it was so refreshing to meet an artist so intent on using the wide reaching promotion the internet can cause by talking to prospective fans about their music, rather than posting pictures of their "new look" on Instagram. He was sincere, appreciative of my support, and a genuinely nice person. All I want to see is nice people, who care about their musical talent more than anything else, do well in this industry plagued by the in-crowd of overly pampered pop stars regurgitating their meaningless lyrics to supersynthed and computerised backing music. Having talked to Brian, he is a honest, well meaning musician, who deserves exposure so people may fall in love with his music.
I return to the aforementioned musicians, who have achieved success this year in the charts. They are the benchmark for any singer-songwriter to break through. Below them, similar artists are few and far between, but their presence at the very top of British music shows an interest. More exposure for lesser propelled artists like Brian Hadsell could see a shift in popularity towards the honest and realistic. Let music become a portrait of humanity again.
