Thomas J Marchant - Nancy 2009

Hear The Track Here

In what seems like a lifetime of reviewing tracks from one Thomas J Marchant - in all his various guises - I have dished out some harsh judgements, especially in his Station for Imitation personna which never sat well with me. However, things turned around somewhat when he adopted the name Antennaheadz and - surprise, surprise - changed tack quiet dramatically. Loveless Blues (October 2007) scored Thomas's very first Must Have ever from me and Mr Panache (November 2007) did the same, indicating that the change of direction was a passing phase. Since then not only has he become my Artist Of The Year 2008, he's gained a few more high rating from me into the bargain.

Matter of fact, I reviewed the original of this track and - to prove that not everything was rosy always - I wrote that 'this is nothing like as inventive as other tracks we've already discussed and probably wouldn't appeal outside of fans and admirers'. Having said that, the original featured just guitar and vocals for the most part and I know that Thomas has improved that side of his work considerably since then. As lo-fi as the original was, so to is this extended mix, although in a totally different way. One thing is immediately obvious so I warn you ahead of time, the vocal is totally swimming against a tsunami of reverb and delay and takes some getting used to.

Mind you, I felt that about some of John Lennon's early solo work and it took a while for it to sink in so I assume the same will be true here. I mention Lennon because that is the overriding influence at work here - intentional or otherwise, the comparison is obvious. There is a fair bit of clipping from that deep well of reverb too and that is a shame. I think, re-reading my original review, that I didn't think Nancy was that good a song and - unfortunately - I think I still feel that same, even in this slicked up modern retake. I think, however, that this may well appeal to people more than the original and that's definitely a step forward.

Recommended Alternative alternative (if you know what I mean).