AS I had nothing else to do on the night bus back to Saltdean, I hummed away to Miles Goodall’s As The Lights Go Down. The track, along with a fair few others, is available online, so I’ve had plenty of time to practise – but there is no way I’m going to nail it.
It’s all about the voice; his soul-wrapped vocal is haunting. A few weeks ago Goodall performed with great confidence, accompanying himself on keyboards, at the Hope and Ruin. This time he is ably backed by BIMM-mates Amy Shaw (bass), Caleb Tamplin (drums) and Matt Botha (guitar).
At first the backing sound is a little too much for the vocals but the group work well together and are well rehearsed; by the time we’re on the fourth track they are switching tempo and style with ease.
Bits of Miles’s chat in a fast-fading Liverpool accent introduce each track – Make It Alright (“this means the most to me”) a good example of how the songs are written from the heart and are quite moving – often painfully so: “We get more from pain than pleasure.” There’s more than a hint of Rufus Wainwright in his vocal style and subject matter.
It’s the way the songs speak of relationships and yearning that makes them work so well – highly personal anthems that stick in the head all the way back to my front door. Catch Miles at the Hope and Ruin in Queen’s Road, Brighton, on April 20.
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