SHOCK! Famous actress can actually sing and write songs
For those of you who don’t already know, Sadie from Sadie and the Hotheads is Academy Award nominee and current star of Downton Abbey Elizabeth McGovern, and this is actually the band’s second album.
For the purposes of professionalism, can I now ignore that part of Elizabeth’s career and concentrate on the music?
Although some of the songs herein are best described as ‘quirky’, they are also all very personal and either written by Ms. McGovern herself or in collaboration with Simon Nelson, who is a rather good guitar player and supplies harmonies when needed.
The album opens with the delightful All The Time which will resonate with parents and especially Mothers throughout the world, as the singer details her day in minute detail over a slightly Irish backing track. The chorus of “Baby I love you all the time” is her way of letting her partner know that he is in her thoughts; but….
Next is the radio friendly single The Cow Song. Without knowing the back story this might sound like a silly throwaway track. But, this is actually Elizabeth remembering the first morning of a romantic break in the English countryside and waking up to cold, fog, and drizzle, and a field full of cows.
One of my favourite tracks is LA Days, a song where she looks back on her past with a wistful smile as the musicians lightly strum their instruments as if in film noir.
The song that most people will pick over like vultures will be the jazzy Old Boyfriends, which isn’t about who you think. It’s actually an amalgam of several Old Boyfriends although the chorus of “Now I hear you’re rich and fat;” sounds a bit too personal and might still point in only one direction.
Small Tasks is something of a lullaby and, again, sounds like a woman harking back to more innocent times with her children, who are now fulfilling these sweet wishes and dreams as ever changing teenagers.
HOW NOT TO LOSE THINGS ends with the swish Open Mic Blues Song which is what it says on the tin; a song about the trials and tribulations of a band going nowhere apart from bar to bar and the fun of being with your friends ‘living the dream.’
Elizabeth McGovern certainly has a pleasant voice and relaxed singing style and I’m pleased to say that this album is actually a group effort. Simon and Steve Nelson have been alongside her for many years providing excellent backing alongside a bus load of their friends from the London music scene, rather than a bunch of soulless session guys flown in by the record company.
The Rocking Magpie 