Chris Wood - So Much to Defend

The Guardian 80

(RUF)

There are references to broken Hoovers, Ebbsfleet football club and climate change. Chris Wood is unique for the way he matches detailed stories of everyday life – in Kent, particularly – with reflections on politics, society, history, or the problems of a musician. He has a gently mournful voice, propped up by fine, understated guitar work and occasional bursts of Hammond organ or flugelhorn, but what makes the album so compelling is the power of his lyrics. He starts with a finely observed study of different lives and priorities, follows up with a story of children leaving home, before moving on to a tale of football under “antediluvian floodlights”. Then come songs about rewriting history, global warming, swimming lessons and self-delusion, with a reminder that “all the noise is coming from the shallow end”. And with the finale, You May Stand Mute, he has written a rousing secular hymn.