Album: David Ogilvy

Like It Is, Thumbpick

The musicians' classified ads that used to run in Melody Maker would routinely include, alongside brief descriptions of a band's intended style, the instruction "No time-wasters", an attitude that overlooked the fact that some of the most interesting rock and pop music has been developed from exactly that process of disinterested exploration. By his own admission, David Ogilvy is an absolute titan of time-wasting, having spent three years virtually living off publishing royalties, piecing together this début collection at his own pace, with no schedule to meet. The resulting short album – it's a little longer than half-an-hour – is a delight, showcasing Ogilvy's dexterity on a variety of stringed instruments: the opening track "Hole In The Ground", for instance, finds him overdubbing pedal steel, and tres cubana alongside sundry guitars and bass. His careworn baritone voice is well-suited to the lonesome-troubadour cast of songs like "Empty Road" and especially "Curlew Song", a poignant evocation of homesickness whose subtle blending of guitars and strings recalls the chamber-folk of Nick Drake. Elsewhere, "Crying" is a Dobro miniature in the manner of Ry Cooder's Paris, Texas, "Neruda 1 & 2" a pair of short classical guitar tributes to the Chilean poet, "Going Down" a laid-back shuffle, and "Must Be The Heat" a reflective neo-retro-country piece. Recommended for time-wasters everywhere.