Robert Chaney
Album: Cracked Picture Frames
Label: Jagged Lines
Tracks: 3
Website: http://www.robertchaney.net/

American born Robert Chaney has digitally released his much anticipated debut album - Cracked Picture Frames. He is quickly becoming the rolling stone of London's music singer-songwriter scene after moving to London to pursue his writing career.

Influenced by old foreign art films Chaney takes the role of both Screenwriter and Director as he dissects news headlines, personal experience and other people's situations and then carefully constructs a series of flawed characters around each story. There is an incredibly filmic presence to the record; it exhales tension with that iconic American drawl- which will always bear resemblance to Dylan. It is rare to find such gritty country soul - but Chaney's voice resonates with a rawness that immediately hits you with profound impact.

Like a Shakespeare play there is an undercurrent of suspense built up through the ten-piece track list, which is then laced with a romantic demeanour and cut deep with sharp injections of tragedy. Opening with the emotive Black Eyed Susan, Chaney paints the horrific reality of domestic violence, but more powerfully, it is sung from the point of view of the ashamed abuser. This thought provoking opening helps set the melancholic tone for the whole album.

From tragedy the record plunges to the utter hopelessness of a failing relationship, which is apparent on Patch It Up and the extreme banality of life on The Morning After. One wonders whether inspiration is sourced from travelling on the London Underground everyday where London workers become like soulless conforming zombies - stuck in this rut of the London-travel-work-sleep routine. Cracked Picture Frames appears as if it was written for Ian McEwan's perturbing opening scene to Enduring Love. This is especially clear in The Cyclist, which chronicles how a couple deals with the aftermath of a tragic car accident.

It is as if Chaney has taken Humans Of New York and by wielding ten different stories he has crafted them into lyrically haunting works of art. Chaney acts as a journalist - giving those who are not heard a voice, without judging or bias Chaney merely reports their personal truth - forcing the listener to open their eyes and take a clearer perspective on life.

Chaney has produced a stunning and potent album. He is a both a wordsmith and a true artist.

Cracked Picture Frames will be released on C.D on April 15.

Leah Parker-Turnock