Released:
Rating:
‘Tell Your Friends’ feels like the first time Hodgson has truly sounded like himself.
Label: Prediction Records
Released: 26th January 2018
Rating: ★★★★
Everyone has their own style. Nick J.D. Hodgson has spent well over a decade writing hits, first from behind the kit for Kaiser Chiefs, then as a scribe for hire, lending a hand to everyone from Mark Ronson to Rat Boy and, erm, Shirley Bassey. And while some of those songs – especially as t’Chiefs’ creative general – have been unmistakeably ‘his’, ‘Tell Your Friends’ feels like the first time Hodgson has truly sounded like himself. The results are both unexpected and spectacular.
Never short of a hook, ‘Honest Face’ is lyrically innocent, but sonically assured – a timeless, almost psychedelic hue cast throughout. ‘Suitable’ glimmers like a slowly spinning glitter-ball at a reunion dance, while ‘Tomorrow I Love You’ sparkles its way to a chorus so comfortable in its own skin it’s positively infectious. The urgent, frantic anthems of old may have largely taken a back seat for now, but as his own man, Hodgson’s innate genius shines brighter than ever before. Stephen Ackroyd
