Funny, how it happens sometimes, isn’t it? Not romance, silly – I mean discovering new music. I spotted Axel Loughrey‘s name on an email shout-out from the Flowerpot, randomly* decided to listen to his stuff and now feel rather fond of his sullen, beefy folk-rock. Loughrey offers ambling, agonised songs about difficult girlfriends and, well, difficult girlfriends, lined with growly hooks and winsome harmonicas. I particularly like the sweeps of country sounds, the fact that Axel sounds about 40 years older than he actually is, and the utterly unexpected arrival of a female singer halfway into True Friend.
Raised in Paris but Britain-based (Norwich at the mo), and also championed by Jo Whiley and Orange Unsigned Act, Axel has so far self-released two EPs off his own steam. The Flowerpot gig has now passed (earlier tonight – I get too many emails) but he is playing the Hawley Arms on Monday 5 April if you can hold on until then.
* It wasn’t completely random – I saw the word ‘Paris’ and thought of my girlfriend. But still pretty random. Kind of.