LiveWire Music reviews the latest single by Stuart Landon
Sometimes, just sometimes… you come across an artist that changes how you see music and changes your perceptions and musical prejudices. For me, that artist is Stuart Landon. Let me explain…
I first heard of Stuart by chance back in 2018, when I went to see Steve’n’Seagulls (A Finnish bluegrass heavy metal cover band!) at the Rescue Rooms and Stuart, as a local artist was up first as support. I’d never heard of him before, but was blown away by his performance, and since then, I’ve developed a liking for…………………. well, country music. There I said it. This is not typically my genre. I love punk, metal, industrial, psychobilly, SKA, but country ? Well yes, there I said it.
I was really excited to review the new single I Sinned by Stuart Landon and I’ve been looking forward to this for days now. Stuart is a huge talent on the UK Country scene and his new release follows on from his number 1 single ‘I Can’t Take it Anymore’ and his top 3 single ‘Taking it Back’.
I am a sucker for a brilliantly crafted, but melancholy ballad or love song. The beauty of this kind of song, is that it cuts across the musical divides and engages fans of all kinds of musical genres. For me, great examples of this are, Nick Cave’s exceptional Into My Arms, The Creepshow’s My Soul to Keep, Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters, and my favourite has to be Richard Thompson’s incredible folk classic Bees Wing. Stuart is already in this list with his stunning track P.S. I Loved You. (Available on Spotify – give it a listen you won’t be disappointed).
But onto the new single….. I Sinned doesn’t disappoint and is up there with the best of Stuart’s work. Stuart wrote, recorded and produced the single himself and was supported by the talented Neil Jacks (Bass and Steel Guitar), Chris Bucknall and Sam Beeton (Drums). I Sinned is a confessional, it’s Stuart’s heartfelt confessional. It tells a story of the experiences in life and the mistakes we make, and as a result, the regret we feel. This regret is expressed so brilliantly in the lines ‘Never lost much sleep, in fact I slept peacefully through it all’. The lyrics go on to as he realises ‘its me that’s missing out. I begged for my redemption but I’m still trapped inside my skin….. because I sinned’.
Life is about learning to live with those mistakes, accepting them and growing, because many of them can’t be changed, no matter how much we want to. As the song says so beautifully ‘Absolution won’t come my way, it’s the way my life’s been spent’.
The vocals are beautifully crafted and soulful and you can almost feel the emotion in the song. The song starts simply with a beautiful guitar building slowly, introducing piano then the drums and building in intensity as the emotion of the song rises. Despite the apparent sadness of the lyrics, it comes over as hopeful and as a result is catchy, and had me tapping my foot, clicking my fingers and singing along (very badly – sorry Stuart).
This is an incredible personal song. Somehow, you feel connected to Stuart, understanding what he has gone through, the pain and the regret, and then at the same time identifying with elements of it in your own life. It certainly made me pause to reflect awhile. That is incredibly powerful and difficult for any songwriter to achieve. But somehow, Stuart does, and brilliantly.
I mentioned earlier my list of favourite melancholy ballads ? Well Stuart has hit the mark with this one. It’s right up there with his best work and as a result it’s made my Spotify ballads playlist, and so I have to give this one a justly deserved 5 out of 5 mics score from LiveWire.
I Sinned by Stuart Landon comes out next Monday (10 February 2020) and is available to order on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1496482046?ls=1&app=itunes
