In Print  Home  Directories  Reviews  Get In Touch  Forums  Links  Gig Guide  

Richard Watt: Songs from Down the Line

From first chord, this album presents itself as distinctly Kiwi. The more I listened to it, the more I found it embedding itself in my consciousness. Subject matter ranges from the laid back Nirvana is Near (watching cricket on tele) and Prayer Flags, to poignant narratives of the Tangiwai and Wahine disasters respectively, Powered Flight is a beautifully crafted portrayal of Richard Pearce's story, told from his point of view. There's an underlying NZ railway theme, which continues into the artwork. Images of kiwiana are resplendent, such as "whitebait-frittering the day away", or using no. 8 wire to mend the world. The style is largely folksey, although Earthquake Road makes a foray into a rockier sound. Contributors include Caitlin Smith, Aaron Coddel, Harmen Hielkema, Jason Orme and Nigel Gavin, who also wore the producer's hat. Watt alludes to himself as 'an old geezer', and obviously this is the product of many years of songcraft. The quality of both musicianship and recording is superb, the songwriting is thoughtful, intelligent and absent of cliché.

Related Information