It might be considered as something of an insult to place someone as seasoned as Tom McRae and his four full-length albums in the Fresh Waves category, but leaning on the excuse that his audience and fame is nowhere near that of what the appeal and sheer quality of his music justifies will hopefully make up for the misplacement.

Born and raised in England, McRae started his journey towards becoming a prolific singer/songwriter by singing in a church choir and borrowing his mother’s guitar, and boy are we happy he did. In 2000 he released his first album, which was self-titled, and it received critical acclaim from important media outlets such as Pitchfork and Rolling Stone. Featuring amazing songs such as the opening track You Cut Her Hair and the closing duo of Sao Paulo Rain and I Ain’t Scared of Lightning unified Tom McRae’s name with intelligent lyrics and moving melodies.

In 2003 he was ready with the follow-up, Just Like Blood, which eventually went one to reach one of the biggest milestones possible for any album regardless of type and genre; it became one of my personal favourite albums of all time. OK, so that piece of self-appreciation was a little uncalled for, but the point I was trying to make is that it is one amazing piece of music. Starting out with the dripping sounds of A Day Like To Day, the album is chock-full of songs that are perfectly suited for those days when you are feeling a little introspective and just want to be left alone.

The album simply doesn’t have any weak spot, and each song is, on account of the lyrics and comforting vocals, more moving than the next. Or at least up until you reach the peak, which is tracks number six and seven, Walking 2 Hawaii and Mermaid Blues respectively. The former opens with the brilliant line ” Falling feels like flying / until you hit the ground / And everything is beautiful / until you look around ” and eventually ends up as a lesson on coming to terms with the end of the world, while the latter is a tale of unconditional love as shown by the line ” I’d swim with you until my lungs give out / I can raise you from the deep / or drown with you in doubt “.

It isn’t just the lyrics and the amazing vocals that will capture you however. The experimental scope of sound on the album serves as the brush and colours that paint a picture in your mind, and you’ll have no problems visualizing the dark blue, icy landscapes of Mermaid Blues, or the orange, burning hot horizon Walking 2 Hawaii wants to portray.

And while both All Maps Welcome (2005) and King of Cards (2007) are great albums in their own rights, I feel that they miss that element of experimental magnificence and cocky self-centredness that made Just Like Blood absolutely fantastic. Though to be fair, the difference in sound, which arguably points towards both musical and personal progression, is enough to say that these albums are in a completely different genre compared to their predecessor. Additionally the fact that he practically wrote a song for me, For the Restless, on All Maps Welcome is almost alone enough to make it my favourite. I just can’t imagine that the line ” For the restless, not the peaceful sleeper / This song’s for you / And for the faithless, not the true believer / This song’s for you ” applies as strongly to anyone else as it does to me. Or perhaps it applies to everyone at some point?

Regardless of what might be your cup of tea, I would like to encourage you to give Tom McRae’s discography, because I am certain that you will find something that tastes just the way you prefer you tea. Visit Tom’s MySpace profile to listen to a couple of his tracks, and also make sure to subscribe to his semi-frequently updated blog, McRaetheism, which makes for a good read!

/ Posted: Mar 25, 2009
/ Written by: Lars-Christian
/ Category: Fresh Waves
/ Artist(s): Tom McRae