fink - biscuits for breakfast
now this one is a first. for the first time in a long while, ninjatune sample clearance department have had to do nothing prior to the release of this album. they must be having a well earned rest. and why ? well, following finks debut release a few years ago, which was known to be a laidback electronica favourite, he has realised that he actually wants to be a singer songwriter. so the machines have been unplugged, fink has picked up the acoustic guitar and crafted a 9 song album of traditional blues sounding songs. the love for the down beat mood is still evident, but the ambience is very different. of course, more serious areas of the world of music critics can analyse the issue of 'middle class white boy giving it his all as a downtrodden blues artist', they can delve into the fact that solo male artists with sensitive souls and easy on the ears guitars are todays hot property, and they can probably kill any chance of enjoyment that can be had from this lovely, delicate album. i decided to cast aside all such concerns, and just let the vibes flow. there are times that fink cannot help himself with the production, so thankfully it's not a one trick pony, as subtle dub techniques are added here and there to gorgeous effect, making parts of the album sound like a more mellow version of skip mcdonald's little axe (the well respected on-u experiment of blending old time blues samples with modern dub). lyrically it's all about the pain and torment of life, but when fink allows the music to breathe and flex a little more, as on standout track 'hush now' featuring tina grace, then you hope that the people that pushed james blunt to the top of the charts will come to their senses and pick up this fine album in 2006, as that would make amends for their sins of 2005.
we can but hope.