I love the slightly self-deprecating pitch from Tim Eveleigh that accompanied his latest long player as it slid into my review pile. He suggests that as a man of a certain age, a singer-songwriter of a particular social strata, wielding a guitar, he might be in danger of being seen as a bit of a cliche. I would say that I trust the music of someone who has been around the block a time or two, who has spent years honing their craft, and who has seen and experienced enough of life to have something worth saying, certainly over some gap-year hipster-troubadour in a wide-brimmed hat and a working knowledge of A minor, that’s for sure.
It’s just a theory, that is, until I give his latest album, Life Is Not A Competition a spin, and find that it confirms every word of that opening paragraph. Thankfully, most people over a certain age know that it is the music that counts, not poster-boy looks (although I’m sure Tim is a handsome chap, I haven’t checked) and social media likes, the ears of “influencers”, and a marketing budget. Tim’s music counts.
He blends the timeless sound of the singer-songwriter with the timely reassurance of someone making music in these dark and difficult times. “Assist” kicks things off with a wonderfully upbeat manifesto dedicated to the idea of just trying to do your best in life and just wanting the best for others, and “Echoes” follows, proving that he is just at home with the gentle, keyboard-led pop ballad.
“Flooded” floors me! A gorgeous blend of Tom Petty’s solo sound and Damien Rice’s understated folk finesse; a tale of the slings and arrows of life and how we all need someone to catch us when we fall, the most understated yet heartaching thing you will have heard in a long time.
“Enough” heads off down another sonic path, a wonderful Arlo Guthrie-esque comical conversation about food waste and the imbalances between the haves and the have-nots, the most brilliant advocation of greed in the western world and an echo of the many conversations I have had regarding visits to my local The Salvation Army hall to pick up the occassional bunch of flowers and the odd root vegetable.
Not only is Life Is Not A Competition a lovely album, one built on understatement and sonic elegance, space and subtlety, but it is also a collection of songs that give you plenty to think about. Not a protest album, but certainly a collection of songs that remind us that change comes from the bottom. We change our habits, and we change the nature of our community. Do that, and the world around us begins to look different. Ideas become movements, movements become forces to be reckoned with, and so on.
That’s the power of a song, at least a song by someone who has, as I suggested at the start, been around the block enough to know how life works.
Website
Soundcloud
Bandcamp
YouTube
Instagram
