You know those people you meet, where straight away, you can just tell that they’re alright? That’s the impression you get as Graham Coxon, better know as one quarter of brit-pop phenomenon Blur, quietly skulks onto the stage, sits on a small chair and picks up his guitar. Wearing his trademark wide rim specs and boyish, dishevelled hair, Coxon carries himself in a way that suggests he isn’t too comfortable with his prominent position at the front of the crowd. But he has no need to be. Promoting his new, largely acoustic album, The Spinning Top, Coxon guides the small crowd through a wonderfully surreal aural landscape. He does begin a little unsteadily, quietly plucking his way through a couple of new folksy numbers accompanied by bass and drums. His voice brings back memories of listening to Blur in your bedroom, and you quickly recognise some familiar motifs that are indicative of the guitarist’s fingerprint in their distinctive sound.
This is a departure for Coxon, moving away from his more punk/pop outing of Love Travels at Illegal Speeds, to this mainly acoustic concept album, the story of one man’s life from birth to death. His vocals accompany his guitar playing well, occasionally deliberately slightly off key, adding a strangely eerie edge to a number of songs, particularly the slow burning ‘This House’. Things liven up with Perfect Love, a quaint love song (Out of the sea and into the tree flew your perfect love for me) that quickly expands from solo guitar into a samba like cacophony of drums, double bass and at one point, a piccolo. After this you get the impression he has the confidence to pick up his electric guitar and really make some noise, standing in a more confident manner and the crowd lap it up. He blasts out some heavy riffs in a couple of tunes, with ‘If You Want Me’ evoking feelings of teenage angst (“Its all so serious, its all so lame”) and head banging, punctuated by the occassional psycadelic solo. The mesmeric ‘Caspian Sea’ particularly stood out, with its surreal electric guitar hooks and repetitive chanting chorus, it puts Graham, and the crowd, into a trance like state.
“Your very quiet” he says at one point, “It’s hard to tell if we’re doing alright or if we just look like three mad men in the corner of the room.” You want to pat him on the head and tell him he’s fine, bless him. We’re quiet because we are listening Graham. Because we really like you.
Words by Lewis Merdler Photos by Matthew Hodson (www.matthewhodson.com)
