Jeremy Searle: Americana Uk: Album of the Year: To the Bone

Jeremy Searle is a much respected music journalist.
He writes for the fine online magazine Americana uk.
I'm proud to reproduce his 'Albums of the Year' list below.

You can read Jeremy's original review of 'To the Bone' here:

Jeremy Searle writes:

AKA everybody else is doing it, why shouldn’t I? Yes, it’s time for my Top Ten Albums of 2014 which will be completely subjective, with surprising omissions, astonishing inclusions and, quite frankly, an order that defies belief. In other words, just like all the other lists. Except it’s mine. So, to business.

10. Remedy – Old Crow Medicine Show. OCMS have been around for what seems like forever so sometimes you forget what a breath of fresh air on the bluegrass scene they were when they arrived and this is their best album since their debut.

9. Best Medicine – The Stray Birds. Their eponymous debut was one of the best of last year and the acoustic folk/bluegrass/country/roots trio deliver more of the same this time round. Great harmonies, great playing, great songs.

8. Going Down To The River – Doug Seegers. Seegers is the real deal. Homeless and playing for change, a genuinely heart-warming story leads to this debut album made at the age of 61. When people talk about authenticity, this is what they mean. Seegers has lived it and you can hear it in his voice and his songs. The title track is a classic and the rest of the album is snapping at its heels.

7. lullaby and… THE CEASELESS ROAR – Robert Plant. Wherein rock’s great front man and sonic experimenter, together with his best ever band, the Sensational Space Shifters, returns to the rock/folk/world fusion he’s so good at and also displays his vulnerable side. Majestic, as were the live shows.

6. Diamonds On The Water – Oysterband. Their first album since losing long-time bassist/cellist Ray Cooper, this could have a been a step back or a holding set. But it wasn’t, rather a creative rebirth with some of their best songs and playing. Thirty years down the road the fire still burns.

5. The History of New Orleans Rhythm And Blues 1955 – 1962 – Various Artists. Six CDs, over 180 tracks, exemplary packaging and booklet, some of the greatest music ever made and only £22. An object lesson in how to produce a reissue, with hours and hours of listening joy, from Sea Cruise to Lucille, Land of 1000 Dances to Sweet Sixteen. Bliss.

4. The Elizabethan Sessions – Various Artists. Set up by the EFDSS and Folk By The Oak, this collaboration between some of the finest folk artists around was an unalloyed triumph. Despite being created in less than a week, the quality of songs is astonishingly high, the playing likewise and all the potential pitfalls spectacularly avoided.

3. Centenary – Show of Hands, There have been a lot of Great War albums and songs this year but none approached Centenary. Poems read by actors Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter with traditional and original pieces by Show of Hands, it was appropriate, powerful and deeply moving. The best thing they’ve ever done, which is saying something.

2. Nothing Can Bring Back The Hour – Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker. I have proclaimed these two as future stars ever since first hearing them and, good though their previous work has been, this is not only their best yet but an album that takes folk music as a whole forward. Masterful songwriting and that voice from Clarke, great interpretations of traditional pieces, beautifully deft guitar work from Walker, this is as good as folk music gets in 2014.

1. To The Bone – Jones. Trevor Jones of Miracle Mile fame delivers his best solo album yet, which is

saying something. Exquisite heartbreak, devastating insights and words that cut, yes, to the bone, allied to impossibly beautiful melodies and perfectly judged playing and singing.

To the Bone: Reviews: Vapour Trails

" It is like being privy to an intimate confession."


Here is a fantastic review of 'To the Bone' from Irish writer Seamus Duggan on his fine site; Vapour Trails.
Seamus is a perceptive and fearless writer who inevitably gets... right to the heart of the matter.
Excuse the platitude but it seems apt here.
His is a sanguine world view; worldly and (yes, hallelujah!) wordy; once you have visited his knocking shop, you'll surely return.
Enter the Vapour Trails site here:

To the Bone: Reviews: R2 Magazine

This 5***** review just in from R2 Magazine (Issue 46/July & August).
Many thanks to Jeremy Searle.

R2

JONES

*****

To The Bone

(MEME RECORDS) http://www.miraclemile.co.uk           

Has there ever been a more gorgeous introduction to an album than that which starts ‘Phil the Hat’ on Trevor Jones’ latest outing? If there has this reviewer hasn’t heard it, and the rest of the music never slips from that peak. Jones is of course one half of perfect popsters Miracle Mile and his musical compadre Marcus Cliffe is all over this album, making it nearer to Miracle Mile’s sound than his previous solo outings.

It’s a masterpiece of subtlety and delicacy - songs to immerse yourself in; late night listening with a glass of something decent. Every couplet makes you think, every chorus makes you soar. The sound is richly layered but never over-polished, the vocals just so, the words exactly right. Writing a review of an album as good as this feels superfluous, mere gilding of the lily. It doesn’t need ‘articulating’ or ‘explaining’, its power and beauty is sufficient in itself. All that needs to be said is that you won’t hear a better album this year.

Toronto Tim Says: 'To the Bone': The Review

My good Canadian friend Tim Patrick occasionally hijacks these pages to wax lyrical. 

Usually about some new musical wonder that has sideswiped him.
His latest salvo is a little closer to home.
Here he assesses my latest album 'To the Bone' and, bugger me, he likes it!
He's also posted this on Amazon (as have, currently Fleetwood Mac and David Ashley.)
Thanks too for those who have done this in the past; they really do help.

Come on the rest of you, why not do likewise.

Help shout it from the rooftops!

Here's Toronto Tim:

Toronto Tim says:

Jones

To the Bone

'To The Bone' - by Trevor Jones. Musically, the album title is apropos; the understated arrangements certainly a brave move, considering the majority of Miracle Mile/Jones discography tend to lean toward relatively polished & expansive productions, which I do happen to adore. However, sometimes a change is a good thing. The songs at first had me wanting for more, but then after a few listens, I realized they possess all that is needed. In fact, it's the deceptively simple arrangements that allow the poetic and profound lyrics to shine here.

The title also applies to the album subject matter... very personal, honest and sometimes heartbreaking. Seems like a record perhaps Jones needed to make as a form of catharsis, rather than necessarily wanting to be made. As with all Miracle Mile/Jones work, the words are extremely thoughtful and moving, yet lyrically oblique enough that the listener can take ownership in such a way that they become quite individually special. I dare anyone with a heart to listen to "Somewhere North Of Here" and not be forever touched. A perfect blend of brilliant melody/musical arrangement and intensely moving poetry. A stunning song of empathy, encouragement, perseverance, & devotion...

So, is there any chance that an introspective, sparse record from a barely recognizable artist will be a hit in this day & age? Not really. I just feel sorry for the throngs of folk who won't even know this wonderful record exists. With over a dozen albums worth of exquisite music made for thinking/feeling adults under his belt, I have to honestly say - IF THERE'S A BETTER SINGER/SONGWRITER IN THE UNIVERSE THAN TREVOR JONES... I DON'T KNOW WHO IT IS.

To the Bone: Reviews: AmericanUK

This review just in from AmericanaUK.

See the review below or better still go directly to the AmericanaUK website here.

Many thanks to Jeremy Searle

JONES “TO THE BONE”

Meme Records, 2014
Near-perfect explorations of the human heart

Another day, another slice of musical heaven from Miracle Mile man Trevor Jones. He strives for perfection, the perfect words, the perfect melody, to accompany his articulating of human emotions. Often he finds it, to such an extent that coming across a song that’s “just” very good, is something of a shock. With each new release he moves a little further along his personal road, a few steps towards that perfect album. He probably thinks he’ll never get there, which is exactly what artists should think. But some of us might beg to differ.
If you feel that emotions can’t be expressed except through blood, grit, dirt and raw howls then “To The Bone” will come as a revelation. When, on “Somewhere North of Here” Jones sings “I will walk beside you and you will know I’m there/I will touch you gently, to comfort your despair” his compassion is infinite, his reassurance total. When, on the opening “Phil The Hat”, he muses on an old friendship, it’s nostalgic but clear-eyed. When he describes a relationship slowly breaking up on “Man behind the Moon” he says more in ninety-seven seconds that most writers manage in an entire album. Ally lyrics of this power to equally good tunes, and tunes with hooks and gorgeous melodies to boot, and you have a magical listening experience.

Comparisons have been made (and validly) to the Blue Nile and Paul Buchanan’s work but really Jones is in a class of one. There’s a spiritual sense to his music, not in any religious sense, but in his search for the essence of what it is to be human. This is an album that does indeed cut to the bone. Buy it. Buy it now.

9/10
Jeremy Searle

To the Bone: Reviews: Onda Rock

This just in from Gianfranco Marmoro.
I'm unsure of the translation but… I think that he likes it…

Passionate, sincere, profound, essential, the music of the Miracle Mile seems to have finally found the perfect architecture "In Cassidy's Care" point of reference for his consecration. He arrived at the third solo album, the singer Trevor Jones is well aware that the emotional power of his music is the added value of a well-established style that is unlikely to continue to evolve.
In "To The Bone" the artist prefers to rediscover notes and harmonies aside, pending a more intimate diary in which to flow these beautiful and fragile sketches. Marcus Cliffe is always behind the scenes to grace the 14 tracks on the album without ever suffocating, and stressing with beautiful arrangements ofpedal steel and piano tone more sad and personal, where regret, resignation and silence, dream and hope they try to piece together a sense of bewilderment that Jones has lived with anxiety in the past tormented years.

For an author constantly striving to put music in the most secret emotions and sometimes harsh, it is necessary to give the healing power of music the key to the increasingly difficult journey towards maturity and old age. He has never hidden his admiration for the Blue Nile, and it is clear that intensive listening " Mid Air "Trevor Jones has given to the energy needed to face the inevitable melancholy starvation, which occurs when dreams run every time seem closer, making it necessary to start over.
The refined and sophisticated pop of Trevor always moves between known coordinates: Prefab Sprout,Elvis Costello and the whole heritage of the best songwriters Anglo-American, but his most recent passions seem to be Joe Henry, Tom Waits , Leonard Cohen , precisely the Blue Nile, Talk Talk and the Lilac Time, it is not difficult to see their poetry in the pages of "To The Bone", which is a nostalgic reminder of the value of friendship in "Phil The Hat" or the dreamy picture of "Dream Horses" (a beautiful ballad for piano and orchestra).

There is a new sensibility, however, behind the always beautiful ballads to electro-Jones and harmonic turns hugging each other, creating delicate uptempo songs that sound familiar, and perhaps a little innovative, but they are all pervaded by a spiritual novel. The formal perfection and the bombast of "In Cassidy's Care" is set aside in favor of a recklessness that as a gentle wind storm leaves decanted and the fears and thoughts without evidence or seek solace.
"To The Bone" is for sure the solo album more akin to the music of the Miracle Mile, but here everything is simpler, more minimal and straightforward. "We can discuss every word read or can we make love," Jones sings in "Books To Bed", but it is a last-ditch attempt to romance, just an invitation to talk about himself without metaphors or obstacles. "I will reveal my truth and you show me yours," he whispers again, while a police siren sounds far away.

Everything is on hold or waiting for a response in "To The Bone": a touch of country-western "Some Kind Of Surrender" try to soften the defeat of yet another waiver, almost sterile minimalism to Paul Buchananof "Pardon Me "sets to music the dismay and fear of going blind or perhaps only of being confused and distracted, and the sirens back on stage in the solo piano instrumental of" glimpsed And Gone "by opening the doors to the title track that seems to tighten for a moment the doors of suffering with an elegiac choral prayer Celtic folk style.
"Man Behind The Moon" and "Fireworks" seem to have escaped a project of the band-mother, with their romance more defined and the recurrent specter of a failed relationship or inert. It is behind the crystalline and limpid simplicity of episodes like "The Fullness Of Time" that hides however the essence of the new project of the musician, which gives an unexpected duet with Lucinda Drayton in "Angelicana", an uptempo track that evokes the past then sink your hands into a contagious and passionate soul.

Like any adventure, there is always a sound artist attention to detail not only lyrical but also theme: touch the innermost chords is very painful, but in this process of collective catharsis almost with his audiences Jones sees a hope that rely on "Somewhere North Of Here", a languid ballad immersed in the sound of the pedal steel Melvin Duffy ("I will walk beside you and you will know that there are, I touch you gently to comfort your despair").
It is an album destined to repeat the great success of the last album of the Miracle Mile, but certainly a testimony of a sincere and profound artistic profile that is unmatched in modern British pop music scene;too softly, the music of Trevor Jones remains one of the deepest pleasures of our mad passion for seven immutable notes.

7.5 Gianfranco Marmoro

(17/06/2014)

To the Bone: Reviews: Elsewhere

With 'To the Bone' released today (June 16) what better way to celebrate than with another great review, just in.
This one is thoughtful and… funny.
I don't usually incite 'funny'...
It's from Graham Reid, a New Zealand journalist who writes for the online arts magazine 'Elsewhere'.
Thanks Graham.
I'm not sure about the 'beautifully modern home' though.
You should see my guttering…
Read the text of the review below or, ideally go straight to the source at Elsewhere here.

To the Bone
Jones

On the basis of this, his previous solo albums and those with Miracle Mile (with Marcus Cliffe, the multi-instrumentalist here who also produces) you'd imagine Britain's Trevor Jones this way: it's late afternoon in his beautifully modern home with a view over the Med and he's in a wicker chair by the pen glass door, the book of Romantic poetry lying in his lap, a glass of fine wine on the table nearby and his eyes on the distant horizon as he thinks of the lost love.
A breeze ruffles his hair and the melancholy mood is completed as the red sun sets and he walks to the piano to play a slow and graceful ballad . . .
If that isn't Jones in reality (and it doubtless isn't), then that is certainly the mood his songs often evokle (enhanced by his gentle spoken word pieces).
There is sensitive heart and poetic impulse at work and his music is most definitely for those over 35 with a few life experiences behind them. "Don't make it into a movie" a character says on Pardon Me, a line that some of us might have had the misfortune to have heard as a relationship unravels.
But Jones -- as my intro here implies -- has the ability to evoke exactly that: the exceptional opener here Phil the Hat starts "Hand on heart, I never saw this coming, it's like you never left the room . . ." as it reflects on the passing of a friend ("Let's raise a glass to our younger selves") and you feel there in the room as he thinks the "false alarms and happy endings" through.
Musically very little here will set pulses racing, but that's not Jones' intention: he takes you into a place where thinking is more valued than action, that reflection is its own reward ("all that should have been" on the equally lovely Some Kind of Surrender) and that on a cold night taking books to bed while wearing fingerless gloves is the kind of simple shared intimacy (and need) . . . and a seduction adults can understand.
If the overall mood is turned down low, the gentle embellishments of these songs -- mostly supported by piano -- with pedal steel and dobro in places (by Melvin Duffy) adds even more atmosphere. Angelicana ("you crave dusty roads") is another highpoint.
Over the 14 songs Jones' intimate and poetic style and that consistent mood might pall for some, but put yourself in this place. It's late afternoon and you are in your beautifully modern home with a view over the Med . . .

Graham Reid

To the Bone: Reviews: Roots and Branches

Another fine review for 'To the Bone'.
This one is from Steve Morris at 'Roots and Branches'.
I've copied the text below but why not read the review on their site here or on Steve's new blog here, the magnificently title Winklesea Press.

Roots and Branches

To the Bone

I’ve had a copy of this record for ages now, so long it’s become a first choice ‘go to’ when I need music to stir the senses. It’s been with me soundtracking train journeys through English landscapes both lashed by rain and painted in pre-summer sun and it’s been ideal for both.

Jones – Trevor Jones, one half of the mighty Miracle Mile – is both a deft lyricist and composer with a beguiling ability to find a commonality in his personal situations and to then couch it in both words and tunes that, to borrow his title get right ‘to the bone’. And if that suggests a mood of reflection throughout the record, it’s spot on. Jones addresses friendships, relationships and the fragility of life itself within these fourteen songs often provoking a strong emotional / cerebral response with a phrase or observational angle that hits home in the listener. Indeed a damp eye has almost become a hallmark response to new works from the man.

Stylistically, it’s easy to draw comparisons to Paul Buchanan and Paddy McAloon, both artists who’ve similarly refined and distilled their craft over the years but it’s also possible to find glimpses of other craftsmen in these songs. Indeed the work of Johnny Mercer / Henry Mancini is alluded to a couple of times towards the end of the record.

One thing that can be easily overlooked is just how fine a singer Jones is; it’s a very English soulful sound he makes, not great in a classic vocal sense but emotionally available and intimately fragile, both great and rare qualities. It helps that Miracle Mile partner and producer Marcus Cliffe captures this with breathtaking clarity. And speaking of Cliffe, mention must be made too of the gorgeous textures he weaves behinds Jones’ vocals and the excellent sonic quality he brings to their work. Spotlight too on Melvin Duffy whose pedal steel and dobro filigrees are a joy throughout.

What is perhaps most astonishing is that Trevor Jones, whether solo or as a part of Miracle Mile, has released some sixteen or so albums to date with each being a genuine step forward from the last. One reviewer has already tagged this one the best yet – until the next! And I really can’t add anything to that except to say that this is a genuine gem that you really do need to hear – often.

Steve Morris

To the Bone: Reviews: Folk Radio UK

Another review for 'To the Bone' just in.
Thanks to Mike Davies for his kind words.
Visit Folk Radio UK to read the review direct or see the text below.

Jones – To The Bone

Under both his solo soubriquet and as Miracle Mile, erstwhile teacher singer-songwriter Trevor Jones has a thing for break-up albums. Loss and the collapse of a relationship anchored both of his band’s last two releases and was a constant presence on his two previous solo albums. The same applies here on To The Bone, a collection of songs born of what he calls “a period of instability”, the lyrical content ranging between bewilderment, resigned acceptance, regret, reflection, longing and hope, the songs couched in uncluttered, simple arrangements, inspired by Paul Buchanan’s Mid-Air and pared “back to the bone” (the writing process and the therapeutic nature of silence documented in the part-spoken Cabin Fever) to mirror the rawness of the emotions.
As ever, he’s joined by regular contributor Melvin Duffy on pedal steel and dobro as well as Miracle Mile partner Marcus Cliffe, who shares production and arrangement credits as well as playing everything else save acoustic guitar. For those familiar with Jones’ work, it’ll come as no surprise to hear it’s hushed and melancholic, his gift for folk and country shaded melody and open-heart lyrics undimmed, his soft, dusty tones variously evocative of Martyn Joseph, Ricky Ross. Paddy McAloon and the more wistful side of Costello. For those yet to discover him, these are just some of the pleasures in store.
“Hand on heart, I never saw this coming,” he sings on the opening lines of the album’s bitter-sweet first track, Phil the Hat, a nostalgic reflection on friendship as he adds “let’s raise a glass to our younger selves, remembering how it used to be” and sets the tone for what follows. Both etched out on piano, in the achingly tender Dream Horses memories provide both solace and hurt while the descending scales of Pardon Me addresses the confusion of being blindsided as he replays every detail of “the how and the where and the when”.
Underpinned by pedal steel, bells and a shuffling rhythm, Some Kind of Surrender kicks up the tempo slightly, the seeming rapprochement of “I reach out to you, reaching back to me” offset by “as we wave ourselves goodbye”.
The mood oscillates throughout; on the drone-backed Books To Bed he sings “we could discuss every word that we’ve read or we could just make love” while the yearningly brief Man Behind The Moon details those telling signs (“there’s something in the way you worry with your hair”) of a fracturing relationship whereas Fireworks celebrates the hopes and dreams that light up the grey skies as he defiantly sings “I’m done with defeat, let the victories begin”.
Elsewhere, Lucinda Drayton adds vocals to the soulful Angelicana, an Americana-shaded number about a restless spirit featuring slide guitar and, perhaps, a passing hint of Just My Imagination, Glimpsed And Gone is a piano instrumental behind which can be heard the sound of a police siren and the title track features the sort of Celtic choral chorus to have the crowd swaying with their scarves on the terraces of Bruised Romantics Utd.
Having weathered the storm, the album closes on a hopeful note with light peering through the clouds; Jones singing “I will walk beside you and you will know I’m there and I will touch you gently to comfort your despair” to a backdrop of keening pedal steel on the devotional Somewhere North Of Here and, on slow waltz Row, “I knew from the moment I saw you, that you were my forever girl…will you be sailing away or …row row row the boat gently back to me” before the piano notes fade soothingly away to the sound of distant female laughter and the heart lives to beat another day.

Review by: Mike Davies

'To the Bone' Reviews: HiFi News

With a week to go until the release of 'To the Bone' reviews are a bit thin on the ground; it seems that
there are a multitude of us vying for limited column inches.
Happy therefore to report that the album was made 'Album of the Month' in July's 'HiFi News & Record Review'.
Here's the write up below, courtesy of journalist Johnny Black.
When I told Marcus that we'd received a 92% 'Sound Rating' (2% more than the new Donald Fagen album and Sinatra's sublime 'Songs for Swinging Lovers') he wanted to know what had happened to the other 8%. There's no pleasing some folk, although I'm glad that his standards are high…

HiFi News 'Album Choice':
Many of you, although not yet enough, already know Trevor Jones in his incarnation as Miracle Mile, easily Britain's most singer-songwriterly duo. Occasionally he releases a solo album, but how these differ from Miracle Mile albums is hard to define. Analytically, it's probably that a Jones album is more minimal, less complex, than a Miracle Mile album, and that the balance between the contributions of Jones and his multi-instrumentalist partner Marcus Cliffe is skewed more towards Jones. This is another corker with gorgeous ambient touches: the distant police sirens in 'Books to Bed', the steel guitar that morphs into an angelic choir on the short, sweet, 'Man Behind the Moon'. Possibly his best yet, 'til the next one.
Johnny Black
Sound Quality: 92%

Macwood Fleet's 'Albums of 2014': To the Bone

To The Bone is beautiful, delicate, like whispers in the wind or that glimpse from the corner of your eye. It draws you in and seduces you with both sounds and words. It's Trevor Jones' most simple and perhaps honest record - emotions stripped down 'to the bone' and the stripped down feel to the album compliment the music perfectly.
If you hear a more beautiful album this year then I'll eat my Marshall gigging cap.

Chuffed to relate that 'To the Bone' has made Macwood Fleet's 'Albums of 2014' list.
A compliment coming from a man who is steeped in music.
Pre release is always a nervous time, so it's gratifying to know that the album is resonating with folk.
Sir Macwood Fleet is actually Nick Baker; a Welshman with a big hat, a big heart and a bigger record collection than Whispering Bob. He knows his onions does Nick so, again, that magnifies the compliment.
Read the review on his fine blog here.

'To the Bone' Reviews: Get Ready to Rock

GET READY TO ROCK

Trevor Jones is back with his new solo album (he also produces music as part of Miracle Mile). He is joined on here by Marcus Cliffe (he plays the majority of the instruments on the album) who forms the other part of Miracle Mile, along with Melvin Duffy who adds a little country air to the proceedings on a couple of songs with his dobro and pedal steel playing.
He has lovely soothing vocal that makes the listener sit up and take notice. Songs about love and relationships, all done with minimal musical backing. ‘Phil The Hat’ is a single in waiting being the most instant song on the album and ‘Somewhere North Of Here’ with its pedal steel is simply divine. What makes Trevor Jones’s music stand out is not only the vocal, but that the listener can often relate to the lyrics and the melodies that often reveal more of themselves on repeated listens. Lucinda Drayton adds a soothing vocal to ‘Angelicana’ whilst ‘Pardon Me’ shows off Trevor Jones’s vocal well. The latter song is full of emotion in the song and the vocals. It is very hard to describe in words the emotive music Trevor Jones produces and I would highly recommend you try a song or two on his website. I would be very surprised if after listening to a couple of songs you didn’t get hooked onto his music!
You can order the album now directly off the website or it is officially released on 16th June. Either way make sure you get to hear this wonderful selection of songs.

**** (4 stars)
Review by Jason Ritchie

To see the original review please click here