Fred Smith
HOME
(Independent)
★ ★ ★ ½
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Less focused on a single subject than his last release, the fine Dust of Uruzgan, on Home you still get plenty of that special Fred Smith reverie. Given the title, you get the feeling these are songs close to his heart. At times seemingly almost too close. The tracks speak to you, and you find yourself listening closely to every word. He can be playful and serious, awkward and kind, poetic and sensitive. With yarns about a sailor who fatefully sleeps in after a visit to a whore house (Ellie May), an achingly gorgeous track that brings past love to the present (Sometimes Before You Go To Sleep) and a tribute to arts figure, the late David Branson's, you can't help but be moved or confronted or entertained or something in between by the words Smith forms. Here's cheers.