CD review: Paul Armfield - Blood Fish & Bone

Published on Sunday 18 April 2010 21:49

THIS album by the Isle of Wight-based singer-songwriter and double-bassist Paul Armfield comes as a revelation to the uninitiated.

His mellow, well-weathered voice, recorded with a warmth and intimacy which stops short of fuzziness, occasionally puts me in mind of a more laid-back James Keelaghan. In contrast, the understated accompaniments, on guitars, keyboards, percussion and the odd rumble of bowed bass are dark-toned, often stark and echoing.

Armfield's songs about life, love and mortality can sometimes be delivered with an intensity which makes you understand why he was included some years ago on an album of Jacques Brel covers. They range from the tuneful, folk-ballad delivery of What Every Mother Fears to the taut soliloquy of Who Do They Think They Are? with its clamorous guitar. In a lighter vein is the languid murmur of Sloe Gin, over its jug band shuffle, while Missing the Last Boat Home waltzes its way into a beguiling carousel.

Available from.paularmfield.com