Harvey Summers "Jupiter" Album review by Steve Sheppard
A rare pleasure for me as I write this review, not only does the artist come from the UK, but only a short distance from me in the neighbouring county of Sussex and the album is Jupiter by Harvey Summers.
I first came to know of Harvey’s work through a series of chill out albums, but this is chilled for another reason and to prove this we start with one of the most picturesque and delightful compositions I have had the pleasure to listen to for quite some time. The gem is By The Riverside and is as smooth as silk and as gentle as an angels wings across your cheeks on a warm summers evening, having said that, there is a nice element of guitar in the second half of the composition that reminded me of Ali Ferguson and John Lennon in style and a defiantly sensible touch of Harmonica to make the opening track a very tasty musical treat.
Track two is entitled Last Lonesome Mile, it has a wonderful ambient start that breaks into some delightful percussion and breaks further into a gentle but purposeful guitar segment and as the pervious track, Summers lyrics and vocals are not only subtle, but deeply emotive and meaningful.
I know dear constant reader that whilst listening to this piece we would all have to agree that at some stage we have all walked that last lonesome mile, the chorus is both addictive and has some nice chord changes that drag you towards some very pleasant harmonies that as a singer myself I would like to vocalise as well.
Bon Hiver is a dream like track, this really has that stunning element of reverie about it and has such a delightful chorus that it can and will almost, if not completely, move you to tears. I think in my opinion in the old days, this would have been a track that would have been released as a single, it has a perfect hook and once more Summers smooth vocals make it a song of distinction, I dare you to listen to this composition and not be moved.
So we move to a lighter song called Light In The Sky, that starts in a Country and Western style. However the song is clearly about life forms from other worlds and U.FO’s and why not, it’s always been a given for me, I mean we’re on Earth, we’re here, so why not someone somewhere else and the song really is the artists way of saying, he would like to see this in his life time, but doubts if he will. The unusual method and style to portray this was downright clever, one could almost hint at a little swipe and the United States reluctance to admit alien life exists, by using their own style of Country music to sing about it, very clever indeed and of course works perfectly well.
Satellite is an interesting composition, it starts once more in an ambient style, but some very well played guitar and selected drums which then fall into a nice rhythm, give us a track that has an element of soft rock, with a hint of New Age thrown in for good measure. This composition also took
me back in time to the early seventies and a very different track from Black Sabbath called Planet Caravan, it doesn’t sound particularly like it in essence, but it has the same feel. That piece runs very smoothly into the next called quite appropriately Cosmos. But there are definite progressions toward a space feel going on here. This reminds me of a film segment and with the piano and the galactic sounds as well, it’s a little like Vangelis in his heyday and encapsulates the listener in an outer worldly way with ease and dexterity.
So the title track Jupiter and Summers really has me back in the days of Al Stewart and the Year Of The Cat, it is so refreshing to hear this album and a track like this to know that there are still people who can produce quality songs with a care and attention to details which gives us a quality production. Jupiter is a nicely paced track which I warn you will stick in your head for days, but that’s a good thing right?
However Jupiter as a track is a more driven song than Al’s and has a great element of rock with a chorus once again that has a the perfect melody and hook, a truly great song.
Hey Spaceman, watch out for the harmonies on this track, they are utterly delectable and this is a truly masterful work of art bearing in mind that there are no samples or electronic used on this album at all, it’s purely organic and for this track that’s quite appropriate as Summers lyrics relate to a blissful ignorance of what a beautiful world we live on, but were still not listening, however many people will try and tell us from this world or another, the chorus echo also works brilliantly as does the grooved guitars as well. This for me was one of those tracks that I think a musician would be proud of from a technical standpoint.
We float into the composition What Am I For, a somewhat sombre piece with some reflective lyrics about life and feeling estranged to the world. It features a quote from Ezekiel, which is a biblical reference in the Old Testament virtually admitting the existence of aliens, other worldly life forms and has a brilliantly written song entwined within its heart. As a writer I think I may ask Harvey if I can use “So this disaffection grows like mildew on the wall” brilliant! This is a dark song, but a song I wonder how many of us have sung at some stage.
I could see this track being a real fan favourite as it is indeed one of mine; it has all the hall marks of a classic song, sung with passion in a world devoid of originality.
Well, as the grey clouds of distain drag their laboured bodies across a dank October sky we break into another cleverly written composition called Non Mea Culpa, this sways with a majestic quality of a narrative eager to be told, it could be a reflection on the way this world is now, it could be a reflection on today’s total insecurity and lack of responsibility or to take ownership of an issue or problem. Musically another wonderfully composed and performed piece, lyrically clever and pointing the finger to a set of shrugged shoulders that answer back, not my fault!
During the writing of this review we had several storms running through our patch, in short the heavens opened up. At this point I had reached the track Earth From Space and I began to wonder just how that would actually look, those who have been lucky enough to see it have all said it was a life changing moment they would never forget. Taking all that into consideration this was a beautiful piece composed with an elegant and enchanting style and at times reminded me of a track from
fellow Sussex musician Phil Thornton in pace with his piece Casting Pearls, whilst almost giving us a Fleetwood Mac Albatross moment as well.
Last surprise and the last track on the album is a blues style composition called The Raven and just as I was talking about storms, we start with one on this track, this was a superb song from the roots on down, but the last word of course goes to the Raven. In Native American shamanism the Raven is seen as a bird of magic, but more accurately it is a totem bird that will show us how to go into the dark and find the light within. Here we see Summers end his album with an almost Edgar Allen Poe style of choice, the Raven was also a classic composed by The Alan Parsons project and has been the inspiration to many over the years and a once more clever choice by the musicians to show all the varied qualities of his style and art of performance.
Jupiter has been a totally refreshing album for me to review, there is a world out there of totally synthesized pre packaged banality and can be loosely called music, but thank goodness we still have quality musicians like Harvey Summers to listen to and brilliantly composed, produced and performed albums like Jupiter. I can’t speak highly enough about this release and I urge you dear constant reader, if you have any musical respect left in your soul still, you need to add this rather large fragment of musical genius to your collection.
Steve Sheppard - http://www.oneworldmusic.co.uk
http://www.harveysummers.com
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