ARTIST PROFILE
NEW STUDIO ALBUM "WHAT ELSE BUT LOVE" OUT NOW - U.V. Printed deluxe Digi Pack CD or LP Vinyl
Album Tracklisting: Spark In The Sky / Part Of You / Future Lies / Play Of Fear / Troubadour / Forever Bound / Temporary / Rowing Away / Don’t Worry (feat. Becky Unthank)
“Everything on this simple, hypnotic record feels so unforced and easy, it’s tempting to believe that making music this fine is a bit of a doddle, it is not “ THE WORD
“The most distinctive talent in his field today” **** Maverick
The new single, Play Of Fear, by Jon Redfern is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Wrapped in melody and harmonies the lyric deals with Jon’s fears for mainstream culture, death of loved ones and his own mortality. But this is a song with a summery, uplifting pop hook and it has the potential to take over the airwaves this Summer, with Jon’s gorgeous, distinctive vocal to the fore.
Jon Redfern’s new album, What Else But Love?,is an exceptional, emotional statement from the heart from one of Britain’s most talented – as yet undiscovered - songwriters.
This is an album of concise, open and honest songs. Dealing with loss - Temporary - and his own troubled past. Jon’s early life was spent on the fringes of society, surviving and traveling alone as a teenager to escape his unhappy homelife - Part Of You.
Troubadour - the shock of a friend wrongly imprisoned for attempted murder, who, once released, upped and left without a word, not to be seen again for eleven years. Re-acquainted with Jon only because he hears him singing on the radio. A phone call to the station and they’re back in touch.
The album closes with Don’t Worry, a beautifully formed duet with Becky Unthank from Rachel Unthank And The Winterset (herself a fan of Jon’s music since coming across his debut in 2006 and then touring with Jon whenever diaries allowed). Becky recently won plaudits and a mercury music nomination for her version of “Sea Song” by Robert Wyatt on the album “ The Bairns” .
Coming up are two album preview shows – full UK tour later this year:
AUG 5th LONDON - Electro-Acoustic @ The Slaughtered Lamb
with guests Dean Owens and Mary Hampton from Reveal sister label Navigator Records.
AUG 14th EDINBURGH - The Voodoo Rooms .
*Three acoustic cover versions are also available for free download use – “Policy Of Truth” (Depeche Mode) “ Razor Love” (Neil Young) and “ Diamantina” (Christy Moore) from www.myspace.com/jonredfern
" WHAT ELSE BUT LOVE ? " REVEAL 47 CD / LP / DIGITAL
" PLAY OF FEAR " + " I LOVE THE SUN ATJAZZ REMIX " PROMO CD available from the webstore.
SPIRAL EARTH.CO.UK review
Jon Redfern
Anyone who claimed they knew how Jon Redfern's third release would sound is lying. That probably even included Jon. After his initial soulful-progressive-melting-pot of a debut he gave us a pared down acoustic affair for his second. Now with 'What Else But Love?' he has re-built a new home with elements of both his previous releases. If not constructed on the same street as either, it's certainly in the same neighbourhood.
From the off we're led into a sizzling big sound of largely piano-led balladry. Comparisons with Pink Floyd are easily made with Jon employing their one pace is enough strategy, and their ability to lament just about anything. What we don't have, though, are any Dave Gilmour solos to sit through. Instead the rich instrumentation is tailor-made to cradle Jon’s tales of a confused mind searching for solace, wherever that might be.
Two of these tracks will be familiar to his fans. 'Part Of You' gets the full makeover with rushes of piano and a fizzing hi-hat spurring it on to new giddy peaks. There's also proof that 'Troubadour' really is a slow-burner worth your patience. The new material is fragile and piercingly beautiful, in the main, especially the coda to 'Future Lies'. Then just when you think you have the measure of the guy he pulls a rabbit out of the hat, finishing on a melting duet with Becky Unthank. Maybe it's best not to try and second guess a restless muse such as Jon's.
The listener is rewarded by surrendering to the flow of the melodies, however, the spell can be broken. Even though it only clocks in at thirty-seven minutes a couple of the numbers can slip towards being ponderous. Jon's aesthetic can be a finely balanced thing and hard to sustain over a whole album.
Another acoustic effort would have been very welcome, and yet this release just goes to illustrate that good songs are just that, and Jon has plenty up his sleeve. So, not his tour-de-force but a flawed beauty.
David Kushar
REVIEWS
Jon Redfern - what else but love? Reveal Records CD LP DD (2008).
Anyone who claimed they knew how Jon Redfern's third release would sound is lying. That probably even included Jon. After his initial soulful-progressive-melting-pot of a debut he gave us a pared down acoustic affair for his second. Now with 'What Else But Love?' he has re-built a new home with elements of both his previous releases. If not constructed on the same street as either, it's certainly in the same neighbourhood.
From the off we're led into a sizzling big sound of largely piano-led balladry. Comparisons with Pink Floyd are easily made with Jon employing their one pace is enough strategy, and their ability to lament just about anything. What we don't have, though, are any Dave Gilmour solos to sit through. Instead the rich instrumentation is tailor-made to cradle Jon’s tales of a confused mind searching for solace, wherever that might be.
Two of these tracks will be familiar to his fans. 'Part Of You' gets the full makeover with rushes of piano and a fizzing hi-hat spurring it on to new giddy peaks. There's also proof that 'Troubadour' really is a slow-burner worth your patience. The new material is fragile and piercingly beautiful, in the main, especially the coda to 'Future Lies'. Then just when you think you have the measure of the guy he pulls a rabbit out of the hat, finishing on a melting duet with Becky Unthank. Maybe it's best not to try and second guess a restless muse such as Jon's.
The listener is rewarded by surrendering to the flow of the melodies, however, the spell can be broken. Even though it only clocks in at thirty-seven minutes a couple of the numbers can slip towards being ponderous. Jon's aesthetic can be a finely balanced thing and hard to sustain over a whole album.
Another acoustic effort would have been very welcome, and yet this release just goes to illustrate that good songs are just that, and Jon has plenty up his sleeve. So, not his tour-de-force but a flawed beauty.
David Kushar
Jon Redfern - May Be Some Time - (5/5)*****
Jon Redfern is half English-half Chinese, but there's not much sign of the latter half of his origins in this debut album, which is firmly ensconced in British folk music, even when he throws in little touches of jazz into the mix, like on Demons II. Quite why so many of the songs on May Be Some Time have their own immediate sequels is a mystery, but maybe he's just not very good at thinking up song titles.
He certainly doesn't seem to have a problem with the songs themselves, because this is a very tight and impressive collection of heartfelt and sombre folk songs that has inevitably drawn tiresome comparisons to Nick Drake, the only melancholy folkie that anyone can ever really name. The standout track by a mile on here is the piano-led Can't Take The Heat, which sees Redfern's vocals rising above the mix a bit more than on most of the rest of the album and is beautifully mournful. Give Away Your Heart II is another great tune with some really nice musical and vocal backing lifting it onto another plane after all of the very low-key and muted production that has preceeded it. I Love The Sun is another impressive tune which is mostly a soulful jazzy instrumental with a short burst of vocals in the middle and perfectly demonstrates why Redfern deserves more than just being pigeonholed as another 'new Nick Drake'.
He deserves to be lauded as one of Britain's hottest young talents, because that is what May Be Some Time suggests that he is, and this comes very highly recommended to anyone looking for something meaningful and beautiful.
One of the best albums of 2007 so far...
James Ellaby - Entertainment Manchester - April 2007
Spiral Earth - Album Review
There must be a good vibe around the office at Reveal Records. Kris Drever has picked up the Horizon Award for the brightest young talent at the BBC Folk Awards and Joan As Police Woman is being showered with plaudits. Now another shrewd signing comes along in the shape of Brighton born Jon Redfern.
After a productive spell in young borders band Tarras, Jon relocated to London via North Wales and met multi-instrumentalist Patrick Durkan. Together they have crafted Redfern's first solo LP 'May Be Some Time'. The key word here is crafted as Jon is a genuine genre sampling kind of guy. It's likely to have taken a fair amount of toil to have knocked this material into a coherent whole. Luckily Ben Findlay, Real World's resident engineer was on hand. This fella knows how to knit together some disparate threads.
'May Be Some Time' hints at many influences but it tends to be John Martyn and Nick Drake that crop up most of the time. But even if Jon's voice and music are some sort of skewed hybrid the comparison is only a starting point. It is probably just as much an adoption of their maverick spirit as anything else. This wealth of original material opens with 'I'm still Young' and 'Am I a Fool' song writing with memorable choruses, rousing fiddles and slide guitar. It's overriding sense is of a pensive mood. 'Lost' fits right in built on fragmented and repetitive sound motifs capped off with searching lyrics.
It's from here though you really need to buckle in. Several songs need an exploratory two parts in the middle section to tell their tale. Don't be put off though Redfern skilfully avoids any prog-ish pitfalls. He's a fluent wordsmith even if the subtle imagery he evokes is somewhat esoteric. Nevertheless when the atmosphere is taken to the edge of despair on 'Give Away Your Heart' we're never really given the impression salvation can't be found.
Things reach a bittersweet climax on 'I Love The Sun' where lounge jazz becomes an ode to the winter sunlight and lost friendships. In keeping with the rest of the LP the sound remains mature with a humane heart steadily beating away. Whilst Reveal Records continue to enlist yet more acts of intrigue Jon Redfern is a significant addition to their roster. 'May Be Some Time' is a soul journey that will reward you again and again.
David Kushar - Spiral Earth - March 2007
It took a little while for Jon Redfern to break into my psyche, but once he did, it was a first class seat that he claimed for himself, right there in front of the fire with his feet up and a glass of something very pleasant and no plans to leave! My first real contact was at the Reveal Records gig for Amnesty International at Derby at the tail end of last year where he and his band struggled against some strange sound system problems for a while, but were nevertheless impressive enough to make me fork out for this CD there and then.
Jon's music is just a pleasure to listen to. If this album had been released in the days when vinyl wasn't just the preserve of enthusiasts and dj mixers, then my copy would already be wearing out fast - very few days have passed without at least one play. Jon is a good writer of both tunes and lyrics, and he takes all the credits for these on "May be some time", as well as joint honours for the string arrangements. The CD opens with "I'm still young" which features no less than ten instruments, including Jon's acoustic guitar. This is a big band and Jon has used it to tremendous effect. It's always tempting to review a CD and say this sounds like a mix of so-and-so and someone else, but in Jon Redfern's case it would be a long, long list, there are so many differing styles here, but let me throw in Nick Drake and John Martyn , laced with a smattering of jazz and a pinch of Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band in this colourful curry.
It's no hodge podge though, the CD flows beautifully, and sometimes even seamlessly, from track to track, the music is mature and very well crafted, with no sign of the current trend for using lots of instruments because we've got them, rather than because they fit in. Jon's lyrics too are memorable, intelligent, snappy, sometimes witty - "Couldn't get rich quick, if you paid me" for instance and "Have you ever been searching, all your life" appealed to me. Track 3 "lost", has a lot of percussion, a bass and two guitars played with both hands up on the neck - mildly distorted vocals which might have been too murky and damp sounding, but the whole thing is brought to life by Patrick Durkan's glockenspiel which sparkles over the top.
Those arranged strings open "All this time 1" on track four which also has the brass section in action again - this is a magnificent piece which builds gently but insistently with the 6/8 beat, a train like rhythm and a swirling guitar over the horns and strings before suddenly fading out like "the dream has gone forever". This is followed by a short but exciting instrumental "Demons I", just Jon's guitar, a snare drum and lots of "orchestral percussion" which has a real firework quality to it, and leads into "Demons II" which continues the musical theme, but also has a delicious sax solo which later turns all a bit Pink Floyd for a minute towards the end.
Lyrically, the whole album has a touch of Peter Gabriel's "Salisbury Hill" to it - "I want to live my life, I don't want to live no other" and also "Got to let go of this feeling" - Jon sounds like a man who has made up his mind where to go and he's on his way - and - well I've been putting off trying to describe Jon's voice because it's just his own really - unique, understated yet powerful, stuffed full of feeling - clear - yearning, certainly never dull - tugging at your emotions all the time, whether up or down.
"Can't take the heat" finds Jon in a Youngish mood with a simple, rhythmic piano part, sung over, beautiful Rockets like violins (Lou Peacock), but with the Redfern touch making it something else altogether - a harmonium unpinning the second half of the track giving it depth and warmth. The harmonium is played by Jon's musical partner - multi instrumentalist Patrick Durkan - and Patrick is also responsible for much of the album's distinctive percussion sound, as well as being the other half of the arrangements team. The band also includes a cellist (Sarah Gill) and assorted brass, bass, piano and a cittern. The single - "I love the sun" is a lovely slow 3/4 instrumental with a short vocal in the middle - a hymn for lost friends perhaps is an absolute delight. This almost merges into the concluding track "Somewhere" with another great beat, more long brass chords and a mournful vocal before the mood suddenly brightens, the pace quickens, the glockenspiel shines again, the tension between the pace of the beat and the long restrained brass holds out to the end when suddenly, as if the clockwork has run out, the brass stops and a slowing rhythm section clatters to a halt and thats it. If you are anything like me, you'll be winding it up and listening again, and again, and again.
FOLKING ABOUT online
JON REDFERN " ACOUSTIC" ( REVEAL) from Spiralearth.co.uk
Jon Redfern is building a reputation as a songwriter of sophistication. The fruits of his labour have been taken on the road and it is evident his music works on stage. Now he's been back in the studio to re-record four tracks from his debut and an equal number of new tracks. All this is presented live in the aptly named 'Acoustic'.
I was a little concerned when I heard of Jon's new stripped down direction. On his first offering 'May Be Some Time' the studio seemed to be gainfully employed as an extra instrument. I pictured Jon spending hours hunched over a mixing desk deftly constructing his sonic soundscapes with a myriad of options at his fingertips.
Immediately though I was taken aback by 'Acoustic'. The established songs must be built on steady foundations as they transfer with ease to this minimal setting. My favourite fragile moment from his debut 'I love The Sun' is given a new lease of life and the two part 'Give Away...' fizzles with emotion.
From the new batch 'Part Of You' and 'Glad' veer wildly into Neil Young territory. Jon's voice flutters skyward and the strings are hit a touch harder with abandonment. A plangent harmonica secures the ineradicable comparison but we're not talking shallow plagiarism. Redfern's versatile studio team of Joss Clapp and Patrick Durkan are worth holding on to. The gratifying plummy resonance of the guitars and wurlitzer piano perfectly underpinning the lovelorn lyricism.
If this is a new direction it should pay dividends. As much as music fans admire a maverick some can be fickle, liking to know what category of music they are listening to. Working with a restricted palette Jon has come up with a more cohesive sound. Squeezing every ounce of his undiluted song craft into these tracks he gives us hooks and harmonies that hang around. It provides an excellent boarding point for beginners, a must have for fans and a tantalizing taste of future treats.
David Kushar
LINKS
CONTACT
| Management | ||
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| Tom Rose tomreveal@mac.com |
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| Tom Rose PO Box 7535 DERBY DE1 0NF | Tel: Mob: |
01332 552220 07779017236 |
| AGENT | ||
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| Tom Rose revealagency@mac.com www.reveal-records.com |
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| Tom Rose PO Box 7535 DERBY DE1 0NF | Tel: Mob: |
01332 552220 07779017236 |
| Press Agent | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vanessa Cotton ( TRIAD PUBLICITY) vanessa.cotton@triadpublicity.co.uk |
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| Tel: Mob: |
+44 (0) 7803500818 |
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| Radio and Tv | ||
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| Russell Yates ( cool badge) russell@coolbadge.co.uk |
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