Album Reviews
'Thoughts for Company - debut album from Jonny Hands (January 29, 2010)
‘Man With Guitar’ remains one cornerstone of acoustic music.
That makes something new and refreshing increasingly harder to achieve. Then sometimes
there’s slice of freshness added to the style. If you’re a fan of the ‘man with
guitar’ style and you haven’t heard a young musician called Jonny Hands then
you should look out for him. That’s because there’s something interesting going
on in his music.
Birmingham-based Jonny sings reflective, personal songs with
vocals that range from soft and questioning to strong and demanding. His touch on
the guitar is excellent. He writes sensitive lyrics and sharp melodies. Not a
bad package.
 ‘Thoughts for Company’ is his debut album. It’s a collection
of 11 songs written, arranged and performed by Jonny – and if that’s not enough
he produced, engineered and mastered the album too. With many self- made albums
it’s easy to spot the ‘cracks, joins and mistakes’ (deliberate or otherwise) on
this album he’s put together a clean piece of work that’s worth a listen.
So what stands out? There’s ‘Mirror Image’ with its tight bouncy
guitar and piercing lyrics. ‘So Close, So Far’ is a catchy song with wistful
vocals (plus neat violin touches and a ‘crowd effect’ on the end). ‘Escape’
offers a gentle approach to guitar and voice, while the excellent eponymous track
‘Thoughts for Company’ is a powerful closer.
The packaging is sparse but well-designed; one request, next
time add the lyrics (they’re worth it).
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