David Gibb - A Footpath of Hope for a Town in Despair

I’ll be honest, I was never a big Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly fan. Same goes for Bright Eyes, really. Sure, I can understand why people went mad over I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning, especially at a time when Death Cab for Cutie’s O.C endorsement meant that becoming a sensitive poster-boy was what the indie-community (or music community at large) wanted. But as far as millennial acoustic/folk pop’s concerned, the whole thing leaves me a bit cold. David Gibb’s A Footpath of Hope in a Town of Despair is clearly in a similar vein to the aforementioned artists, sharing that same palpable anxiety and romanticising of everyday life.

Things weren’t looking favourable, but it’s refreshing to hear a bout of nostalgia from someone as young as Gibb; 1999 recollects wistful days of youth spent reading comics and bemoaning the sudden depreciation of mobiles, along with other observations that seem to be as relevant now as they were back then (except for Walkmans at £80 a pop – sweet hindsight). It’s all given the usual singer-songwriter treatment with a relatively thin timbre consisting of acoustic guitar and organ flourishes, which works well on 1999 and EP closer The Funeral Planner, though it comes off too thin on Anything Left. It doesn’t help that the track is bogged-down in vague pep-talk lyrics, but you’d expect age to smooth that out.

The clear stand-out of the EP, however, is Ouch My Sides, an instantly gratifying whole-band effort that manages to conjure up more gravity than the sum of the other 3 tracks with Gibb’s best vocal showcase; whilst his voice is occasionally frail to the point of irritation here he pulls off an impressive chorus that catapults him past the usual mainstream balladeers (see: Blunt, Morrisson). Backing vocals are layered tastefully and a harmonica punctuates the more stirring moments. Whilst for the most part the EP’s polite emotional tone is something of an undoing, here it lends the song a Conor Oberst-like sentimentality.

A Footpath of Hope for a Town in Despair isn’t as pretentious and precocious as its title suggests: there’s a tangible sense of an artist-in-progress about it. Gibb clearly still has some way to go as a songwriter of note, but you can be sure that if he gets there we’ll have folk music worth hearing.

David Gibb’s next single is now streaming on www.davidgibb.com.

Related posts:

1. David Gibb - The English Retreat There’s something unsettlingly Scouting for Girls/Hoosiers-like about the opening...
2. This Town Needs Guns release video for Panda This Town Needs Guns, fresh from selling out the London...
3. Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - Town Topic EP They say write about what you know, and Owen Ashworth...
4. This Town Needs Guns - Tour and Album With the release of their highly anticipated debut album edging...
5. This Town Needs Guns: Interview Slaving away (in one form or another) since 2004 creating...