Album Review: TV Smith - "Lockdown Holiday"

 

If 2020 is going to be remembered for anything musically, it's the "recorded during lockdown" album - a collection of heart-on-sleeve songs often written with just a sparse acoustic guitar for accompaniment. And it's not really a surprise to see TV Smith, always a man with an ability to cast an acerbic eye over the current political climate dating right back to his days fronting the Adverts in the punk era, adding his effort to this particular list.

As the name suggests, Lockdown Holiday was written by Smith while isolating and ill and the themes cover the bewildering events of the last year. While Bounce Back offers a message of hope to those struggling to cope with the isolation and confusion, the vast majority of songs here contain his trademark righteous fury against ignorant politicians both over here (I Surf The Second Wave, Let's Go Back To The Good Old Days) and across the pond (Send In The Clown) and those who allow them to get away with such heinous acts of carelessness (Fake News, Join The Mainstream).

Quite simply, this is Smith at his heart-on-sleeve best and is an angry denunciation of the state we've allowed our world to get into. While it comes across as confused and angry rather than offering any answers to the crisis (I mean, do any of us know that?), it does at least offer a comforting arm around the shoulder that there are others out there suffering as well and that maybe, just maybe, one day we can put this all behind us and maybe start building a better world if we ever get round to a situation where people can just identify who their real enemies are. Well, we can all dream, right?...

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)

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