CAROL HODGE – EffortLess In Security – review

CAROL HODGE – EffortLess In Security – review
independent

Never heard of her, mate. Which is surprising. I mean, I listen to the music. Sometimes, I even read about the music. Although people who write about music are, generally, awful. [looks in mirror and silently weeps]

But, anyway, here is Ms Hodge with her fifth studio album. It’s true! Five of them. This, though, is the first I’ve heard. And it’s all jolly good. So go buy it. The end. What do you mean, more? All these decades I’ve been telling you what records to buy and you still want more? Bastards.

Right then. First of all, you’ll want to know that this sounds nothing like her better known side hustles, namely touring with the Steve Ignorant Band performing the music of Crass and doing the same with Ginger Wildheart. Hmm, turns out she was born in Greenock, Scotland (hurrah!) but was dragged off to Barrow-in-Furness before ending up in Yorkshire. Hardship, right there folks.

Over in the world of music, this record covers a lot of ground. The v. good thing is that all the songs are firmly grounded in melody. There’s a bit you can hum in every tune. I’d stop short of doing it at karaoke but you’ll be fine in the kitchen. There’s bits of pop, there’s bits of prog, there’s, inevitably given the paragraph above, bits of punk.

I was slightly surprised at the proggy bits until I saw somewhere that the early works of Queen were amongst her first loves. Made sense, then. There’s also a dark edge, which is less surprising, given the fact that Ms Hodge is a pianist who does not have the standard number of digits. She was born with seven. That’s going to make an impression on your psyche. Things kick off with ‘Manouevres’, one of my least favourite words, but an absolute banger of a tune. A proper riff that. One of the album highlights.

Elsewhere, ‘ I’ll Do The Begging’ is a proper ballad and shows off what a tremendous singer she is. A real heartbreaker, it’s the sort of thing that should be a hit record and if we still had the X-Factor, would be covered in despicable fashion, by the winner, just in time for Christmas. The most miserable of seasons. Cash, though.

Things heavy up again on ‘Small Crumbs’, another banger, and the one where you can hear the Queen / prog best. There’s also another ‘hit’, in the shape of ‘Oversized Bag’, which is an out and out pop song, and a top one at that. That’s your karaoke number right there.

The lyrics, from what I can glean, are mainly on the dark side. There are some humorous moments hither and thither but we seem to be dealing with someone who spends a fair amount of time closely examining the things that go wrong. I get that, as any of the three people who know me will aver. “EffortLess In Security” was a real surprise for me, and a good one. Not one of the “you’re cracking on a bit, lad, something is packing in every day” surprises. Highly recommended.

https://www.carolhodge.co.uk/

Also at Amazon.