Samuel Taylor
Album: Paper Wings EP
Label: Self Published
Tracks: 4
Website: http://www.samuel-taylor.co.uk/

I've seen Sam Taylor playing guitar for Nerina Pallot, fronting his six piece band Dead Like Harry, dueting with Jodie Marie, dueting with Dead Like Harry's chanteuse Alice Faraday, and as a trio with Alice and his brother Matt, but I have to confess that I haven't yet seen him perform solo. Very definitely on my list of performers that I must see, though.

Paper Wings is, I think, Sam's fifth solo EP, but the third in a series he is calling "Tales From A Troubadour". The idea is that he will visit various cities around the world and will record an EP in each, using the local musicians, producers and studios in each place to shape the sound of his music.

He recorded the first, "Dead White Roses", in his home town of Sheffield, and the second, "Today Is The Tomorrow We Were Promised Yesterday" was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee. "Paper Wings" was recorded at the Redkite Studio in the Brecon Beacons in Wales. This is a pretty arduous and ambitious project. When Dead Like Harry wanted to record one of their albums, in order to afford the recording studio fees, they renovated a studio for free, in order to be able to gain access to the facilities. To now be able to access recording studios as far away as Nashville shows how Sam's reputation has spread.

"Paper Wings" is the first one of his EPs which doesn't feature any Dead Like Harry tracks. All four songs are brand new original songs. Sam, and his brother Matt, seemed to be so young when I first encountered them, but they were writing songs that seemed imbued with the wisdom that normally only comes with age and experience. Sam is older now, but still writing great material.

The first track, "I Can See Your Heart" is not quite a love song - more of a we-could-fall-in-love song. The song is sung for a girl who has no self worth, might even be someone who failed at a suicide attempt, but Sam can see her heart of gold, even if she can't herself. The song begins with what sounds to me to be an homage to Dylan, but as soon as Sam's vocals begin, the Dylanesque feel disappears. Sam has quite a unique voice - it is soft and gentle, almost like a lullaby, but with what I can only describe as a deep crack, which fills his voice with emotion. The track is almost anthemic, being mainly acoustic but with an explosive burst of electric guitar in the middle, that is wonderfully effective, not least because of its brevity.

"I Just Want To Let You Know Before I Go", is constructed like a blues song, though rhythmically it is slower than classic blues. As with the first track, I felt that Sam has deliberately attempted to pay a musical homage to one of his influences, in this case, though, I think it could be Donovan. I honestly don't think I have heard a better harmonica instrumental break than on this track. Exquisite.

The verses of the third track, "Paper Wings", the title track on the EP, have a very unusual metre, making it feel more like experimental jazz, though the chorus has a much more folky feel. When I heard that the EP was going to be called "Paper Wings", I assumed that Sam was going to include a cover of the Barclay James Harvest track of the same name, but, of course, this is an original. The BJH track told the story of someone who died attempting to fly, but the paper wings in Sam's song are metaphorical for an attempt to lift oneself out of depression whilst living with a partner who delights in knocking you back down again.

All the instruments on the album are played by Sam, apart from drums which are played by Greg Haver (who also produced the album) and Rebecca Van Cleave provided backing vocals on "Paper Wings" and "Sail Away", the final track on the EP. Her voice blends perfectly with Sam's to provide almost a single vocal track, but one with enormous depth. Not sure whether that is down to the skill of the producer, the mixer (Brendan Davies), or down to Rebecca's voice, but I like what I hear. Just in case you don't recognise the name Rebecca Van Cleave, she is primarily known as an actress, (Game Of Thrones), and is bringing out her own debut EP this month.

I think the next city that Sam is planning on recording in is likely to be London. Very much looking forward to that, and to all the others in this series.

Pete Bradley