Dave Simpson 

Tom Odell: Long Way Down – review

Tom Odell is yet to find his voice, but his Waterboys/Dylanesque songwriting shows some promise, writes Dave Simpson
  
  


With this year's Brits critic's choice award in his back pocket and support slots with the Rolling Stones, Tom Odell has not been set up to fail. That none of his singles have charted isn't for lack of commerciality. His delayed debut showcases his two default modes: a Chris Martin-type balladeer/troubadour and Waterboys' Mike Scott-type piano-thumper. Grow Old With Me is perhaps the best example of the former, while the rollicking Hold Me might be the first piano-bashing foot stomper to use the word "dumbfounded" since the Waterboys' The Whole of the Moon. Less appealing are Supposed to Be's virtual rewrite of Bob Dylan's Lay Lady Lady or the way some songs seem to owe more to studying songwriting craft than inspiration. The former music student certainly knows his way around a piano, and Til I Lost suggests more sparks can fly when he cuts loose. He may yet rise above the glut of similar-sounding Sheehans, Buggs and Mumfords, but hasn't yet found his voice.

 

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