Jude Davison
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Outskirts of Eden - Jude Davison Album Review
Album Review
Mr Davidson has appeared on our radars before with the acclaimed 2009 album, "Circo De Teatro", which I threw 4 stars at for its individual approach to making a concept album about a Mexican circus.
Obviously buoyed by the thumbs-up from this experience, Davidson, an English musician living in Canada, has done what cooks on Masterchef might term as 'a bit of a risk' - but rather than pile strawberries on top of tuna or serve lemon-flavoured mashed potato in a running shoe, the flamboyant songwriter has compiled an engaging double album. Risky? Given the average attention-span in the Western World, it could be compared to.....what was I saying..?....?....see, there you go....double albums - they went out with flares. Actually, it's a risk well taken.....
"Outskirts of Eden" is split across two discs of cabaret-boogie, theatrical-jazz and burlesque-blues, dressed up in nipple-peepers and freak-show thongs and titled as per the album, plus "More Fruit For Eve". Despite the title split, there isn't a huge difference between the styles or, more importantly, the quality. This is an album of fun, fun, fun, fuelled by a love of pop, country, folk, blues and rock and roll, mixed with a hint of Tex-Mex and Americana flavours. This is Davidson's 'Blood On The Tracks'.
There are several highlights throughout the dual-disc extravaganza - "Medecine Show", "Paraiso Perdido", "Dandelion" all deliver the goods, while the standout on disc 1, or possibly the entire 27-track assembly, is the sublime strings-laden "Borderline". Disc 2 offers up another cracking pair of songs entitled "Strange Desire" and "Gypsy Wind" - plain sailing all the way for the most part.
I haven't got enough space to list the other plus points, truly this is a labour of love and promises to be an engaging backdrop for Davidson's next brace of shows which, even in this economically-challenged world, would prove a success across Northern Europe, Spain and possibly the UK. Anybody who dares to unleash a cheeky song called "Justin Bieber's Dad", inspired by that very man being jibed at one of Davidson's shows, deserves a few boutique-festival slots. Or a residency in the fringes.
I reckon Jude Davidson has a healthy future - his music evokes a colourful world of performing artistes and eccentric characters which kind of sets my mind thinking - "Outskirts of Eden" (and its predecessor) deserves to be presented with a full-on theatrical cast, simply because the entire album feels like a story, like a tale from the carefree days of Victoriana and an insight into the mind of true entertainer.
For the moment though, this is a fabulous double-disc package, dressed up with some Eric Vondy photographic imagery and sumptuous handiwork that major-labels could only dream of. A triumph again - here comes another 4 stars....
