Jack Francis - Jack Francis (2022)

Listening to Jack Francis is a bit like getting reacquainted with an old friend. The Southampton troubadour has a knack with a melody and a transatlantic approach reminiscent of 70s songwriters such as The Band, Paul Simon and Van Morrison. The route to his self-titled album might have been a long and circuitous one, but the resulting record is a triumph that should crack a smile on the most stone-faced individual.

After initially struggling to find his sound, a trip to Nashville via New York inspired Francis’ writing and on his return to the UK, regular shows at Camden’s Spiritual Bar enabled him to hone his craft. With the arrival of lockdown measures in the UK, Francis decamped to the Wiltshire home of fellow Spiritual Bar attendees Archie Ferris and Issy Sylvester with plenty of time on their hands to get to the heart of the songs and record an album free of any outside distractions. The combination of Francis and Ferris & Sylvester is a match made in heaven, as the duo has demonstrated an impressive knack for blending multiple genres with their take on bluesy Americana via a string of quality releases in recent years.

Clocking in at just a smidge over thirty minutes, the nine track ‘Jack Francis’ doesn’t overstay its welcome (personally, I’m a big fan of album-length albums that are precise and filler-free). Opener ‘A Little Love’ sets the scene nicely with Jack’s languid vocal and acoustic guitar opening proceedings before the rest of the band join in with warm bass notes underpinning swirling Hammond organ (that, almost hidden, vocal harmony is especially welcome) and that trumpet is cool to hear. It’s this combination of organ and brass that prove to be such a key element in the feel and overall vibe of the record, giving it its soul, a soul that’s equal parts country soul from across the pond and something much closer to Jack’s Irish roots.

There are plenty of fine tunes here, on ‘Holiday’ times are tough “I’m still not dressed, and it’s four in the afternoon”, a place where I’m sure we’ve all been at one time or another. ‘Driftwood’, “I’m just driftwood washed up on the shore”, finds Jack with an acoustic guitar and his thoughts for company before an exemplary combination of brass, organ and a lovely harmony vocal come together like a wave crashing on the shore to enhance the yearning ‘Wild Eyes’.

‘Helena’ has been picking up plenty of praise and airplay. “It was written after a dream I had where Bruce Springsteen was outside my house singing and playing guitar, sitting in the bed of a 1950’s Ford pick-up truck. He was playing this song. I woke up at 6am and wrote the whole thing down in about 5 minutes. It was all in the dream - the lyrics, melody, chords, everything. I had to frantically search the internet after to make sure it wasn’t a song that already existed!” is how Jack recalls the creation of the song. You can picture 'Helena' pouring out of a convertible on a long road trip down an endless American highway, but, as usual with Jack, it’s not all positivity “I was alive ‘til you dug my grave, now I have fallen on the darkest of days”. A special mention here for some particularly fun, if ramshackle gang backing vocals from Jack, Issy and Archie.

The addition of fiddle and strings gives ‘To Mean As Much To You’ a nicely melancholy air, while the quite gorgeous ‘The Wheel’ takes this approach a step further. Jack is in fine voice accompanied by carefully placed vocal harmonies and swirling organ that builds to a crescendo as strings swell punctuated by slide guitar. Following that might be a little difficult, so Jack lightens the mood via the fun, upbeat ‘Cold Hearted Little Man’ with its Wurlitzer organ and stabbing keys reminiscent of the Dire Straits approach to old-style rock n’ roll.

Jack Francis’ debut album is a bit of a gem. Jack’s versatile voice, knack with a melody and strong writing are ably supported by impeccable playing, but for me, the real star here is the care taken in the arrangements and choice of instrumentation. A lot of time thought and love obviously went into the construction of the record, with no loss of fun (everyone sounds like they’re having a blast). Jack Francis made me smile and I’m sure he’ll have the same effect on you. As Jack puts it “It’s all about the songs, I just want to write the best songs I can possibly write.”