twenty seven: Posy Simmonds

I feel I should apologise to the few of you who read/like to laugh at this blog for my long...almost month long...absence. I've been un-motivated and haven't had much internet time etc. Hello again though.


Posy Simmonds, a Kingston-upon-Thames resident started off with a taste for acappella and "amateur beatboxing". Which I have absolutely no problem with. I love accapella bands (think Hot Club de Paris kids). But his more recent songs have morphed into something beautiful.
The opening minute of All My Everything is sublime, featuring echoing choiral skills, more commonly found in a Cathedrale. It then goes onto incorporate a french horn, drums, guitar and eventually his vocal talents, which wrap themselves around the instrumental pieces beautifully, bringing the whole track together, "The fire burnt out long ago/Just an ember on my heart", it has a very "if only" feel to it.
Blossom is one of the aforementioned acappella aces. I'm trying not to compare the vocal stylings to those of Jack Penate, but it's hard. The chorus wouldn't stick out by a mile in an album of Penate's...not that this is a bad thing, I just don't want to get into any misjudged comparisons. Acappella is a very catchy genre and this is also true for Over The Road, a more pumped up form of Posy's roots. The lyrics are equally charming "What a very nice old day he said/I might go and eat some snails".
Another of the more "mature" tracks, Bark is a favourite of mine. Simmonds slowly builds the instruments up, as if the song is pulling itself out of bed into a dim morning, so dim the milkman hasn't even been yet. As the french horn stirs in the background of the song, it's reminiscent of that longing look back at your bed you may take every morning.
I'm very glad I stumbled across this guy.

Listen to All My Everything here.