There are things to like about Neil Halstead. His songs are wistful and well-constructed, the arrangements are tasteful, with his back-up band supplementing and supporting the songs rather than drowning them with unnecessary and inappropriate additions – and he has a fine way with a title (“Witless or Wise”, “No Mercy For The Muse”, “Baby I Grew You A Beard”).
He works in that fine tradition of earnest young men with acoustic guitars, singing songs of love and loss, a tradition that goes down very well with other earnest young men and the kind of women who find earnest young men appealing.
For my money, “No Mercy For The Muse” is the standout track on the album because it is on this track that all the elements of Halstead’s sound (and he does have a very definite sound – see below) come together to form a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
The laid-back vocal style meshes convincingly with the subject matter, the title encapsulates the theme of the song, the lyrics are clear and straightforward, exploring directly and with the minimum of fuss the feelings of a woman who is constantly having songs written about her by earnest young men with acoustic guitars. A subject matter that is of clear concern to Halstead. It has some interest in its own right, providing as it does a nice twist to the kind of songs earnest young men with acoustic guitars tend to write, and showing some awareness on Halstead’s part that earnestness and possession of an acoustic guitar might not be the only valid ways of approaching the problem of living well in the world.
But the very elements that succeed so well on this song also lead the album as a whole to be less successful than it might have been. The earnestness, the gentleness, the tastefulness, when spread over a twelve track album all contribute to the sense that there is no development in the work. The single, “Queen Bee” promises to break the mould, starting as it does with what is in the context a thrillingly punchy drum intro, but then the rest of the instruments come in and the drum pattern is lost in the same earnest, gentle, laid-back tastefulness that characterises the rest of the album.
There is a fine line between exploring a particular mood and writing the same song again and again, and ‘Oh! Mighty Engine’ doesn’t entirely fall on the right side of this line. After listening to this album, some listeners may find themselves admiring Halstead’s sensitivity and good taste; unfortunately, some others (myself included) may find themselves wishing this promising songwriter would just put his back into it a little bit more.
Neil Halstead September 2008 tour dates:
22-Sep-08 Leeds Faversham
23-Sep-08 Wolverhampton Little Civic
24-Sep-08 London St giles in the fields
25-Sep-08 Manchester Sacred trinity church
26-Sep-08 Glasgow King Tuts – Dave McGeachen
Oh! Mighty Engine
Neil Halstead MySpace
By: Jim Driscoll