Ship To Shore

When Richard Thompson began writing songs for his forthcoming album, "Ship To Shore", the artist was instinctively drawn to his own musical roots, employing them in the service of fashioning a deep and diverse 12 track collection that pulls from various styles, genres and eras, but remains unmistakably Richard Thompson.

There's the rumbling, Motown style rhythm that propels "Trust", and the straight forward riff rock of "Turnstile Casanova". The drone-y "The Old Pack Mule", an 'old man's song' that takes musical cues from 1600's era European music, and "Life's A Bloody Show", an ode to 'snake oil salesmen and hucksters', that floats on a glammy, cabaret like melody that's 'almost like a parody of a Noel Coward song, or something from Berlin in the 1920's", Thompson says. "I liked the idea of having a strong base to work from and reaching out from there", he says. "And I think of my base as being British traditional music, but there's also Scottish music, there's Irish music. There's jazz and country and classical. As far as I'm concerned, once you establish your base you can reach out anywhere. It'll still be you ringing through, wherever you decide to go musically".

New West Records and Proper Music, May 31st, 2024.