Thomas J Marchant - Sails

Hear The Track Here

Look out!! Is it a bird, a plane? Nope, just Anthem Man dropping another sample by. If anyone has written the soundtrack of the last year or so for this reviewer, its Thomas J. His simple yet elegant songs have been a particular pleasure for me after toiling unremittingly on his earlier output which was neither simple or elegant. Tell you what though, drag him away from electronica, put a guitar/keyboard/sax in front of him and stand back in awe. Strange. Mind you, it's true that Thomas has always had a touch of the strange about it, it's part of both his music and his personality, he likes what he likes. Which, btw, is great news for us because it means that tracks as awesome as Unemployment (September 2009) only set us up for the real killer blow...Sails

Don't know about sails but by God this song soars.

I admit to being a veritable PITA (Ed: Pain in the a**) about the talents and charms of this UK based singer/songwriter, and no doubt you've long made up your own minds about it. If you are still undecided that Sails is maybe the one to do it to you because it's definitely one of the strongest songs I've ever heard from this source - and that's really saying something. However, let me give you a little back story, and that may shed some light on my reaction. Written partly as a tribute to the late Sharma Kay, both the lyric and the no nonsense way Thomas delivers it ooze confidence and maturity.

Can't say I've heard Thomas sounding much better either, particularly impressed with the vocal post production here, HUGE overhangs, wall to wall reverb - lovely... If this were the real world, there is no doubt in my mind that Thomas would be a leading light in the UK alternative scene. He shows, particularly with this track, that path from David Bowie through to the Smiths and the Manchester indie scene is alive and well and living in the mind of this musician. Out of the many tribute tracks to Sharma, this one got to me the most and that's purely because it is awesome, the very best Alternative the UK has to offer...

MUST HAVE (to treasure)