Heidi Browne is well known to us at The Newport Open Mic. Here is a review of her latest album (available from all good music outlets (and Itunes))
Review of Table 4 One – Heidi Browne
I recently bought the CD “Table 4 One” by Heidi Browne
and I was listening to it at the same time that I was reading “Trilby” by
George Du Maurier (GDM). It was almost possible to believe that George had heard
Heidi playing in Paris and had based the character of Trilby on her singing.
George said this about Trilby:
“Every
single phrase is a string of perfect gems, strung together on a loose golden
thread.”
And I once wrote a review about Heidi´s live
performances in which I said something like this:
“Heidi often wears a string of pearls during her
concerts, and her songs are just like little pearls: beautiful and perfectly
formed. In fact you could say her songs are like a string of pearls for the
ears.”
See what I mean?
Anyone who has Heidi as a friend on facebook will be
aware of how prolifically she contributes to this media, so you will, no doubt,
be aware that she frequently has her songs played on the wireless. Taking just one song from the CD, “G.I.R.L.F.R.I.E.N.D”,
this was BBC Radio Shropshire´s song of the month during December 2011 and declared
song of the year in 2012; It was picked by Tom Robinson for his 6Music Mixtape;
it has been played on Radio Sheffield and Radio Stoke; and It was also the song
Heidi entered for Jamie Cullum's 'Big Audition', making it to the semi finals.
According to the publicity I received with my CD, Tom Robinson (Radio 2) described
the song as “a masterclass in how to tell
the audience a story, person to person, heart to heart, the writing is sharp
and direct and the vocal performance is absolutely immaculate”.
The songs on this CD are an interesting mix of
bitter-sweet and playful. The title track, “table 4 One” tells of the
biter-sweet breakup of a relationship, but includes the playful lines: “Now
that I am single, I´ll eat all the Pringles”!
The sound mix on the CD is splendid. In the past I
have rushed out and bought LPs by various folk artists, only to have my hopes
dashed by masses of overproduction by the sound engineer and orchestration that
detracted from the original mood of the performance I enjoyed live. In a
pleasant contrast to this, Heidi has composed arrangements for violins, flute,
piano, guitar and vocal harmonies, all of which she plays herself, in such a
delicate way that they seem totally natural and unobtrusive. The drumming / percussion
by her brother , Joe, is surprisingly understated and mature, and it is
impossible to fault the contribution made by her father, Colin, on Bass and keyboards.
The CD conjures up a wonderful atmosphere of summer
days in Shropshire. It has, to quote GDM:
“.. . all the freshness of the
morning, the ripple of the stream, the click of the mill, . . . the smell of
early flowers and summer woods and meadows...” It would be easy to imagine
playing these songs on the eight track in my (imaginary) open - top MG-T,
driving up and down the A519 between Drayton and Newport, enjoying the warm
sunshine and breathing in the freshness of the Shropshire countryside while
listening to Heidi´s sublime music.
While downloading the CD, I took advantage of also
buying the single “Paris”. This song alone is being played up to 12,000 times a
week on 'Stereomood', (it seems to be particularly popular in Italy and Turkey),
and it is frequently to be heard on Radio Shropshire and Radio Stoke. And quite
rightly so. Heidi spent a year or so at university in Paris, and this is her poignant
take on the city, and to quote GDM (who must have heard the song): Her voice is
so “seductive, that the desire to hear it
once more became nostalgic – almost an ache.” Her exquisite voice, plus
some very delicate piano, a hint of Parisian accordion, a violin duet and some
pizzicato fill, and the most refined brush-work on the drums, have all combined
into a very fine song.
I really enjoyed reading “Trilby” a story about a
singer who was Mesmerised into singing like an angel; conversely, let Heidi
mesmerise you with her songs. You will agree with me and George Du Maurier that
in her music she has“. . . all the genial
gayety, grace and impishness of Pierrot idealized into beauty and innocence.”
Words by John Heath TF10
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