Teddy Thompson may be the progeny of British folk rockers Richard and Linda Thompson, but A Piece of What You Need simply uses folk rock as a starting point. True, Thompson’s wry and moody lyrics form a template for the grounded and thoughtful context of Piece, but the music shares more in common with the lusher pop sounds of singer/songwriters from the 50s up to today, particularly Roy Orbison, Michael Penn, Jackson Browne, Nick Lowe and Rufus Wainwright. It’s tough enough to have to live up to the expectations of two famous musician parents, but to evoke memories of other rock and roll legends must bring staggering pressure. But from the first entrance of the gently chugging acoustic guitar on opener, “The Things I Do,” it’s clear that Piece is a worthy successor.
The early tracks are mostly pop rock bliss, echoing the sentiment and spirit of early Springsteen. The more angular dynamics of the punchy rockabilly rhythm on the verses of “What’s This?!!” segue surprisingly smoothly into a creased and arcing falsetto sung over the honeyed chorus. First single, “In My Arms,” is perhaps the most straightforward and simplistic of all of the tracks, and while it has an undeniable crowd-pleasing melody, it’s also the most disposable of this bunch. A nice little tune, but a bit too airy of a confection to take seriously. Later tracks such as “Jonathan’s Book” and “A Piece of What You Need” are headier while remaining soft to the touch.
The crucial middle section keeps things interesting. For a while, Thompson takes his folk heritage south of Mason-Dixon. There’s a jangling country/western flair on “Don’t Know What I Was Thinking”—the lyrics match the rhythm, as well, but don’t expect a twang in Thompson’s timbre. Following that is “Can’t Sing Straight,” which drapes outlaw country instincts and Dixieland brass against the new school blues rock sound of Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Jonny Lang. He closes out the segment with “Slippery Slope,” one of the least immediate tracks on the album but perhaps the one most deserving of repeated listens. Cliché or not to say so, it’s a grower.
These surprising music gestures throw the listener delightfully out of balance on Piece. More than one song has faint, echoing electronic/found-sound components (something that most folk musicians are allergic to). On the rollicking, barroom stomper, “One of These Days,” he’s joined by ooh-ing back-up singers. There’s a Bernard Hermann-inspired stinger at the start of “Jonathan’s Book” that sounds yanked right out of a Hitchcock suspense classic. A “Rapper’s Delight” reference in “Turning the Gun on Myself”; a triumphant racetrack-esque trumpet hovering over the title track; handclaps open up “In My Arms.” There’s even a hidden track at the end in the form of an Everly Brothers cover. Curves such as these greatly benefit Piece; few things are as tiresome as a one-note folk rock singer/songwriter.
While much has been made of Thompson’s golden voice, I can only admire it without being dazzled by it. It’s somehow both richly nuanced and steadfast—a bit more variety might have helped. This is a heartfelt affair, certainly, but he has a handful of lyrical zingers and bon mots that might have favored a sharper, slightly more exasperated texture. Luckily, the words he croons rarely falter. From the album’s titular mantra:
“Let's stop getting everything we want/And get a piece of what we need,” to the dry declaration of, “He's planning on at least a thousand pages/It has to be a story for the ages/But from War and Peace to How To Cook/There's not much left for Jonathan's Book,” Thompson succeeds in making us want to hear just about anything he has to say.
While this is Teddy’s album through and through, a good chunk of the credit must go to Marius de Vries, whose imaginative production serves these songs quite well. Thompson’s work on 2006’s Separate Ways, while mostly accomplished, would have benefited from the richer soundscapes that de Vries offers. But Thompson never seems to reject this new sound and indeed the promise of a more complex but delicate musical drive makes Thompson’s songwriting all the more impressive. These two should stick together because A Piece of What You Need is one of the year’s more winning surprises.
"A Piece of What You Need" is on sale June 17, 2008 from Verve Forecast.
