REVIEW: TOM JENKINS – MEADOW PT 1 (2023)

I saw Tom Jenkins recently. He opened for Cardinal Black and he was excellent.

The headline band said something interesting about him. They reckoned they’d asked him to try and get on the Long Road Festival, but he couldn’t play as it was “Sheep shearing season”. Now, Jenkins is a professional Sheep Shearer, he’s been to New Zealand and worked with Maoris, but there is just a suspicion that he doesn’t realise how good he is. His Twitter bio reckons he’s a “Sunday League Singer/songwriter” but I’m here to tell you that “Meadow Part 1” is way better than that.

Noticeably calmer than some of his work,
“Meadow” itself is just so gentle. In keeping with the cover, Jenkins lying down on the grass. It pulls off the really neat trick of sounding big and fragile all at once.

There’s a 90s feel to this, it’s all over “Is There A Next One;” with its drum loops; while the harmonica flourish is expertly done.

It’s a short record too. Just under 13 minutes, but nothing sounds rushed, quite the opposite, actually. “I Don’t Know” sounds content with its lot, “the hills of home have been good to me, to hide away from life, you see.” And maybe music, for Tom, is that escape?

More than anything, though there’s such a beauty in these songs. His voice has just a touch of Jeff Buckley about it, and there’s poetry in the words, like Welshmen always have.

“Drovers” although stylistically similar, is a world away in vibe. “I’ve been thinking about sober, I’ve been thinking of getting over you” goes its hook, and you do think you’re intruding on some grief.

This is a special start, and “Meadow Part 1” is very much headed for the top, never mind the Sunday league.

Rating 8.5/10