'Keith Fabrique' by Keith Fabrique

The latest Keith Fabrique album out today streamed  on his birthday (with hard copies appearing next month) gets straight to the point: it's entitled ‘Keith Fabrique'.

And it's true. While there remains a loose & flexible group of collaborators in orbit around him (they've been credited previously as "The Missing Links"), this is very much Keith's baby. Specialist guitar parts by the likes of Michael Walker, Sam Farrelly Banks and Les Broomfield add extra textures on various tracks and the mighty Paul Sampson adds various parts: otherwise what you hear is pretty much all Keith with one highly significant exception as we shall see in a moment. I will hold my hand up though: what I took as a female collaborator on the agreeably freaky "Diva (Queen of the Blues)" is in fact a sampled vocal.

If the overall title is to the point, the individual tracks titles intrigue before even hearing the songs they are attached to. "Jumping Jelly Lock Bolt", "Sunny Side Up", "Funky Nonsense", "Oh Rosie Don't Get Cosy", "And The King Shall Have His Crown", "Scapegoat", "One Last Go-The Spoken Word", "Sitting Pretty", "Chasing Butterflies", "The Ballad of My Diane", "Space Vibe Blue" and the aforementioned "Diva (Queen of the Blues)".

Now those are merely the names. As most readers will know, the word "eclectic" is prominent in the tittle of Keith's HillzFM radio show and rightly so as there isn't much he doesn't play. This is definitely reflected in the breadth of what you hear on the album which means the last thing you get is a homogenous single note taste: though to be fair, if you go beyond reading the show's name & actually listen to it, Keith frequently and clearly expresses his love for particular styles. These too are what lie behind the songs, so while there is much diversity, ‘Keith Fabrique' is also not some desperate attempt to cover every known genre. He plays to his strengths & tastes: it is just that these are commendably broad. Not even "rock" encompasses it all if you categorise "Funky Nonsense" as jazz which you might.

A bold musician kicks off an album of songs with vocals (which is his forte after all) with an instrumental ("Jumping Jelly Lock Bolt") and this despite guitars being on it, is more of a keyboard led track (I assume that's what's producing the horn/woodwind sounds unless Keith is even more of a multi instrumentalist than I thought) which is a bit medieval in tone. Credit to Paul here for his arrangements.

Perhaps its twin on the record is "Sunny Side Up" with its similar olde world tune but with words. Short & punchy (it doesn't hit the minute mark): is he being optimistic here? The title suggests yes, the lyrics less so. I think he feels it's your role to make of his observations what you will without ramming ever morsel of his own views down your throat.

In contrast, "Chasing Butterflies" would not sound out of place on a compilation of "Sounds of the Sixties". Would this be an era its composer is notably drawn towards? Check him out on his show & you'll find the answer to that one.

I'll jump thereafter straight to "One Last Go-The Spoken Word", even though if you play the record in sequence you'll need to wait longer. This is because when he sent me the tracks, this one caught my eye so much that I couldn't wait. It also links to the opening track in theme as both address issues of mental health. On this Suzette, Mrs Fabrique recites her own poem over Keith's backing. (If you remember, she also co-wrote Keith's song "Darkness" which we featured on 'Hot Music Live Presents Volume Eight'). I suppose again I could suggest courage with putting this sort of thing on a nominally rock album, but that's really doing them a huge disservice. Firstly Keith is beholden to no-one as to what he chooses to include & if you know him, you'll understand that it would be impossible to persuade him to water down his values. The subject matter is central to their beliefs which alone justifies it and if the resulting difference in sound to the other songs is substantial, I suspect that this is even more pleasing to him. Please note too that it sits at the heart of the running order. Some good (and strong) advice mixed with her trenchant observations and personal manifesto over a groovy backing.. one you can't ignore this one: though I fear it won't get much airplay even on community radio.

Set alongside this heavier brew are lighter tracks to balance. "The Ballad of My Diane" for example is a heartfelt slice of Americana sung in the style of some good old boy which is timeless & simply delightful. No radio station could turn its nose up at this one.

In fact "Oh Rosie Don't Get Cosy" has actually come out in its own right as a single ahead of the album & seems to have already caught the popular imagination. You can understand why. This is another of those "most tracks could be singles" albums but this one has no real superiors in catchiness: it's a wise choice. Taking on Paul Simon & Flight of the Conchords in a song based on rhyming women's names is a challenge & it's to his credit that he manages to avoid the same ones as them with resorting to contrivance. And he even pops his voice through a filter for extra distinction.

"And The King Shall Have His Crown" is a delightfully gentle calypso which rather conceals what seem like pretty serious lyrics: though to be fair that's essentially the Keith Fabrique songwriting genetic code.

I think at this stage in his career/life, Keith is not bothered about compromising his beliefs. Another part of his identity (and an important one) is musical fun and exploration & a third is about giving people something to enrich their lives: so strong messages are for the most part (with the obvious exception of  "One Last Go- The Spoken Word") not so much wrapped in a sweet coating for easier consumption (which would be patronising) but offering an enjoyable aural interlude at the same time as expressing something he feels strongly about.

If I dub an album to be full of potential singles, the idea of individual highlights rather goes out of the window: they all have merits, and since it's eclectic, different ones. Quite possibly, listeners will have particular favourites: which is their prerogative & there are various styles to match equivalent tastes. Personally I went through the album with a succession of "ooh I really like this one" type thoughts. Some reviewers like to pick out highlights: I do sometimes go for "key tracks" (which I think I am doing here) but in truth, there is nothing in the area of filler.

Equally, it's worth noting in the general area of quality control that Keith doesn't spruce weak tracks up with excessive arrangement nor production to sneak them  past us: both are kept to a tasteful minimum.