Dan Base - Cheltenham Underground

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" Any musician wielding an acoustic guitar these days is likely to be automatically labelled as ‘folk’: a term that has become so broad that it’s borderline meaningless in the mouths of most. Russ Poole is a songwriter from Gloucester who recorded, produced and released his second EP One More himself. Poole’s accomplished production is crisp and precise; very much at the opposite end of the spectrum to the raw and rustic feel of the best folk music. Besides, the urban ennui that permeates his personal and self-reflective lyrics gives the record a contemporary feel that matches its production. The songs on One More are more like the mixture of soft rock, pop and indie that used to be categorised under the ‘singer-songwriter’ genre, alongside the likes of David Gray, Badly Drawn Boy and Damien Rice. The EP certainly sounds like Rice might be an influence on Poole’s earnest, intense vocal style.

Many similar singer-songwriters’ lyrics are too mawkish to be taken seriously by anyone more cynical than a Disney princess. Poole, however, avoids clichés and cheap sentimentalism with honest, personal lyrics that draw on some occasionally bleak subject matter. Opener Scream starts sparsely with just an acoustic guitar and vocals, but soon adds bass, drums, piano and another guitar part to give the feel of a full band (even if Poole is playing every part himself). Written in the second-person, the protagonist seems to be stuck in the purgatory of the last days of a dying relationship, directly addressing the partner from whom he wants to escape: “I’m pretty god-damn sick of seeing you always around here.” Scream also explores trying to find the time and space for the narrator to be himself, pleading, “Let me be who I want to be” and “give me a minute to be me.”

Just One More is a more plaintive song, comprising of just voice and guitar, but it has a similarly heavy lyrical theme, dealing with alcohol addiction, begging “just one more then I’ll go”. Unlike Scream, however, the narrator asks to relinquish control of his life, rather than trying to win back some power: “please tell me how to run my life… tell me if I should just go”.

Stop This Now is One More’s most instrumentally complete song, with a similar full band sound to Scream. Poole’s songs work best when they use a full band, and he uses the dynamic between those parts and the sparser moments really effectively. Once again, it is written in the second-person, asking its subject to “take me back somehow to that place I can’t forget.” Unlike the rest of the EP, Stop This Now is led by its piano rather than the guitar, which widens the record’s sonic variety.

The EP’s closer, I Believe In You is the closest thing on the record to a straightforward love song, expressing faith and trust in its subject and asking “will you be a part of me forever?” Although it’s well produced and builds to a multi-layered, string-enhanced climax, the song is underpinned by a yearning vocal part and a straightforward, honest busker strum that in the wrong hands might have ended up sounding a little bit, you know, James Bluntish. Luckily, Poole’s voice isn’t at all whiny, so the song avoids cheesy pop territory has a touching, muted feel to it.

Despite the often dark themes elsewhere, the EP’s undoubted high point is the utterly fantastic Alive, which features understated, un-melodramatic lyrics about doing your best in life. It’s an optimistic song about what we can achieve, proclaiming “nothing’s gonna stop us now.” However, it also has a maturity to it, its lyrics seeming to speak out against instant gratification, claiming, “the best things come to those who wait.” It’s appropriate, then, that it’s a song that gets better with each try; the synthy strings that punctuate it might grab your attention most on the first listen, but the sheer warmth of the song is what leaves a lasting impression. “Do you feel alive?” asks the song’s refrain, concluding, “just sit back and enjoy this beautiful day.” Aptly, it’s a song that sounds exactly how a red letter day feels: glorious.

EPs are a great way for an artist to release early material without having to wait until they have enough songs for something longer. However, the question I always find myself asking after a couple of shorter releases is: are they ready for an album yet? Although One More doesn’t suffer from repetitiveness over its five tracks, a varied sound is a massively important way to keep a full album interesting and to help it avoid the comfort of the middle of the road.

Making this excellent record by himself was a mightily impressive feat, but the best way to push his songs in new directions could be through collaborations with other musicians, which might inject something fresh. Poole names Ryan Adams as an influence, and perhaps trying a more organic alt-country approach to the production on a couple of future songs could add a different edge to an LP.

So, is he ready for a full album? I would say yes: Russ Poole is clearly a very talented musician and songwriter, and One More is an accomplished EP with a genuinely radio-friendly sound. Although unlikely to convert anyone who isn’t already keen on this style of music, it’s a record that deserves to find broad appeal; aye, your mum might like it – but so might you. And that’s a good thing. Give it a try.  "