Photo:
After playing second fiddle to My Morning Jacket on their UK Tour, dextrous US minstrel Richard Swift plays his own headline show at Spitalfields Market’s multi-tasking venue, The Spitz. With two albums behind him and new long player 'Dressed Up' out soon, Swift is creating a well-deserved following for his mix of pop-swing-vaudeville.
In support is lanky acoustic songwriter Findlay Brown. As the first chords of opener 'Separated By The Sea' are played it’s clear that he is following a well-worn path of British singers like Stephen Fretwell and Seth Lakeman. There’s predictably a theme of love so it is a shame that Gigwise turned up with his mate, Roland. Obviously if the music isn’t too original there has to be something else that stands out. Sadly Gigwise tends to view lyrics like, “How do I feel? A glorified refugee. But no-one sends me back” as trying far too hard to communicate the universal theme of loneliness and only succeeding in sounding trite and pretty rubbish.
Richard Swift looks like a university professor after a quick but valuable visit to a good party. Sporting a blazer and with hair approaching a ‘fro, he looks suitably eccentric for a singer with so many seemingly disparate influences. The crowd has grown significantly in time for his 10pm start, possibly as a result of nice plugs in this week’s Observer and Metro. The Spitz proves an ideal spot for an introduction into the Swiftian world of honky-tonky musical theatre. He is like a more intense, enthralling Ed Harcourt and there is more than a little similarity between the two. However, Swift creates - going all GCSE English Lit for a moment - an instant mood of empathy in the venue. When he sings, “it’s gonna be a lovely night with everyone looking so nice”, you immediately pull a sympathetic face (although luckily it’s dark). Hints of Gilbert O’Sullivan, Elton John and other introspective 70s songwriters abound while the musical adventure compares with what Regina Spektor is currently exploring. Set highlight 'The Atlantic Ocean' is the inevitable rock-out with a great Prince-like, discordant chorus, with Swift playing as though he is a kid discovering the noises the keys can make.
A deserved encore sees Swift singing through his harmonica, tackling wealth disparities on the way; “this life’s not easy, unless you’re rich, we can’t find sense in that”. Final track, 'Beautiful Heart' off his 'Walking Without Effort' LP is prog meets ELO and the chiming guitar at the end marks an appropriate way to end this charming, warming, and revealing gig. Rather than merely ripping off his influences, Richard Swift gleefully picks parts to create his own compelling world. This man has cult following written all over him but deserves more of a centre stage than many of the singers on display in HMV.
