Chris Wood - Handmade Life

Chris Wood
Handmade Life

Folk music isn’t everyone’s bag. However, it’s starting to break through the ranks, not least because of the wonder that is Flight of the Conchords. Nonetheless, it’s becoming more recognised by radio stations and gaining more momentum in the UK.

One such station is BBC Radio 2, which hosted the Folk Awards, with the guys there thinking pretty damn highly of Chris Wood and dishing out the Folk Singer of the Year award in his direction, as well as giving him the gong for Album of the Year with Trespasser.

With Handmade Life, it’s clear that he wants to continue as he means to go on. Still, it feels like a bit of a lacklustre effort, despite Chris’ clear talent.

His pseudo-Irish twang when singing puts him among the ranks of a few artists, particularly in the context of the genre he’s operating in; Duke Special for one, as well as the little-known yet particularly talented John Mullin.

Still, his sombre vocals seem to both bolster his abilities yet hold him back. They have flashes of emotion that are unparalleled in so many other musical styles, yet he never really seems to stretch himself or go outside of the set pattern. It’s only really in ‘The Grand Correction’ – the final track – where he seems to really push the volume and range of his emotions.

Despite this, the man can tell a story and can make you interested through certain songs like no-one else you’ll’ve heard. This is seen most, perhaps, in the impressive ‘My Darling’s Downsized’, the story of a wonderful woman called Henrietta in which the more pedestrian yet charming elements of a relationship have their virtues extolled.

Still, the rest of the tracks on the album seem to melt into one at times, and it’s only in times of pure disengagement from surroundings that you focus in on Chris Wood’s lyrics because the riffs and accompanying instruments – largely strings – don’t make you stop and think, despite their genuine beauty.

The best accompaniment to music like this is a glass of red wine and a thousand-yard stare. Sometimes the lyrics hit the mark, but others fade into the background enough for you to be taken away by the music and have an introspective experience which is almost always tinged with a little bit of sadness.

Don’t expect to be cheered up by this bloke, nor wooed by diversity between tracks. You could likely go through the entirety of Handmade Life and not distinguish songs or be able to name a favourite. Still, there’s a certain charm behind Chris’ music.

It suffers in this sense from Norah Jones Syndrome: the kind of tunes that don’t arrest you enough to make you actively sit and listen to them, yet nice enough in the background or as part of a commuter’s iPod listing.

It doesn’t make this release bad… it’s just not as engaging as it could be, save for a couple of tracks. There’s a heavy reliance on the same refrains, similar instrumentals and the like. As much as I’d love to love this record, it’s tough; it could just be more than it is.

Handmade Life is out now on RUF.

By Matt Gardner