It’s odd, given that the opening song on “Look Out! Vol 2” – the latest stop on Toby Jepson’s chronicle of the mental health challenges that have plagued him – is “(Don’t Wanna Be) A Rock N Roll Star”.
As a fan – and me and Jepson go back over 35 years – you don’t imagine “rock stars” being fallible. Although, what a “rock star” is these days is open to question. What we can say, though, is that the song itself is classic Jepson: catchy, clever, and superb.
While the songs are magnificent, they aren’t necessarily “classic” Jepson. There’s more depth to the anger of “Some People Are Trash”, for example – it’s more 70s ELO than usual.
“Strong Enough” seethes and confronts his perceived failings head-on, but it’s worth saying that all of these tracks – however intense the gestation was – still carry anthemic choruses, as if to say he will overcome.
He has described “Falling In Love Is Harder (Than You Could Ever Prepare Your Heart For)” as “probably the best song I’ve ever written”, and who am I to argue? It’s a gorgeous ballad, written about the love of his life.
The pace, energy, and hackles rise again on the attack on social media that is “Nothing To See Here”. And if raging against social media feels like an open goal, then the glorious strings elevate it even further.
“Before I Break” plaintively asks, “what have we done with common sense?” The answer lies surely that we kicked it out when we decided the few mattered more than the many in 2019. The record ends with the lovely acoustic slow-burner “Creeping Up Slowly”. It sounds fatigued, but you know he’ll beat this – and any other challenge – with faith in humanity and incredible talent.
“Ultimately, they’re just songs,” says Toby – and given that his music has been with me for so long, you feel like you can use his first name – in his introduction to “Look Out! Vol 2”. And yeah, they are. They’re also extremely good ones. He hopes his “constant companions” will find something to resonate with here.
Of course we do. That’s why Toby Jepson has always been one of the finest songwriters rock ’n’ roll has had on these shores.
Rating: 9/10
