Few US artists have quite the devoted following in the UK that Charlie Worsham, he won many hearts when he first appeared at the C2C Songwriters evening and cemented that even further when he gave away early copies of his second album at a London gig.
It seems ridiculous but it has been 4 years since "Beginning Of Things" was released which in itself arrived four years after his debut "Rubber Band" and now the first single from his new project has arrived and prepare to be pleasantly surprised and possibly a little taken aback!!
Charlie is most definitely not happy and why should he be, those previous 2 albums contained more great songs than many lesser artists could write in a life time!
The song opens to just Charlie and an electric guitar, he strums it like an early demo and when he opens the vocals they are deeper and more bitter than we are used to,
"Living in an attic working in a basement
Scraping it together pray we make the payment"
This is a song of frustration, not just his, he is speaking for anyone with a dream, stuck in a job they hate but need to keep to survive, while their hopes for the future remain seemingly unachievable. The song was fuelled by whiskey and the looming presence of George Jones looking down from the wall.
The chorus when it comes is a brooding building sense of frustration both vocally and musically, a female backing singer echoes some of the lines in the background and the band gradually build up the sound.
The second verse sees Charlie take on the voice of the working man ( or to be precise the working woman ) and with a few lyrical brushstrokes is able to build a compelling believable picture
"She undresses in the dark, a barely burning fire
After a long night of short tips from the drunks and the vampires
Man this ain't no fair fight at all - it's a kick in the teeth
She'd be the Queen of these Godforsaken streets if it was up to me"
There's a fearsome guitar break ( and viewers of the video should prepare themselves for the sight of Charlie in a gold lame jacket! ) before he emerges to vent the frustrations that are driving this song
"For all the half truth flat out lies, for every broken compromise
For all the give it one more tries, more than I can count"
With the final section seeing the band move into full swing this is certainly something of a five minute statement of intent and it remains to be seen if the rest of his new material will be delivered with this ferocity. For now it is a welcome return whetting the appetite for whatever is to follow.
Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56RHtt4x5A8