★★★★1/2

One of the key balances to strike as a musician is to present the perfect blend of letting the music speak for itself, yet also portraying your own style and authenticity in its performance. In his debut solo self-titled album, George Sansome does just that. Although the ten traditional (sometimes less well-known) folk songs included tell varied stories, Sansome’s vocals always seem genuine, and able to range from the deeply personal and intimate to more lively and powerful. His guitar accompaniment is expertly delivered, as it aids the delivery of the story in the music cleanly and impressively without being there to show off in any way. By the end of the album, you will feel you have got to know the musician and his style, making this the perfect debut album.

Particularly in ‘The Bleaches So Green’ and ‘The Rebel Soldier’, Sansome portrays an expert blend of scope and intimacy. In fact, ‘The Rebel Soldier’ might be one of the best tracks on the album for its layered musical maturity and perfectly controlled subtleties. There are also more rousing tracks, such as ‘Jovial Cutler’ and ‘The Bold Princess Royal’, which bring a youthful energy to the album. A lot of the same ground is covered in a few of the tracks here, and it will be exciting to see where Sansome goes next in terms of pushing boundaries even further, beyond the great successes of some of the tracks on this album, which already go beyond what you might be expecting to hear. The album is also produced with an impressive clarity, with the guitar accompaniment sitting behind the vocals yet still perfectly present and effective.

Whilst being part of Granny’s Attic, George Sansome has been distinguishing himself as a solo artist too, and this album is incredibly well thought-through, providing a confident, assertive and thorough beginning to his solo recording career. Although the sound-world Sansome creates seems simple, it is evident that there is a huge amount of attention to detail in the way the music is performed and put together in order to create an extremely effective debut release.

The album is available now at:

georgesansome.bandcamp.com 

grannysattic.org.uk/shop