TEDDY THOMPSON
Never Be The Same (Royal Potato Family)
His first album of original material since 2020, Never Be The Same showcases what Teddy Thompson does best: stories of love and longing, delivered with melancholy, understatement and dry humour.
There’s a soft 60s glow to many of the songs and the arrangements perfectly frame his rich voice. I Remember finds him reflecting on the ache of teenage love and longing, with haunting guitar lines echoing how this early romance set him on his path through life.
Friends and family have contributed too. Baby It’s You is one of several tracks that benefit from John Grant’s contribution on synth and dad Richard Thompson pops up with the catchy riff on Make Up Your Mind.
The highpoint is So This Is Heartache, Teddy’s fragile falsetto floating above a bass-rich arrangement with a classic soul feel reminiscent of Muscle Shoals. On Worst Two Weeks Of My Life, he somehow makes rhyming being “sober” with offering you a “soda” sound perfectly natural. The sadness seems real, but so is the self-deprecating wit which permeates this record.
words KARL ELLIS
