Hugh J. Noble - Here In The Smoke (CD)

Release Date: 12/08/23

Poignant & mostly low-key home-recorded pop songs from this distinctive songwriter / RIYL: Lucksmiths, Wave Pictures

Hugh's second solo album on Jigsaw (and fourth Jigsaw release, once you factor in the pair of cds from his band, Slum Summer), and it's another winning set of clever pop songs in a similar style to his last few releases! Musically, the songs are more fleshed out musically-speaking than the ones on his previous solo lp, 'The Beach Boy' - in fact, you probably wouldn't've known that he recorded 99% of this on his own (that is, everything but Taryn Popplewell's snazzy guitar solo in the outro of 'The Cascades'!) - but then again, the sound here isn't quite as cleanly-produced as the Slum Summer records, so it's great to have both options. As usual, Hugh's biggest fixation (in terms of framing his stories) is location, and these songs oftentimes place just as much an emphasis on the 'where' (and usually, with that context, the 'when'), as they do the 'who' and 'what' - and his songwriting style is so evocative (not unlike Darren Hayman or the Lucksmiths), that all of those details matter. All told, another strong batch of low-key & meaningful songs from this distinctive songwriter!