Thomas J Marchant - Keeping Up Appearances

Hear The Track Here

Although this is billed as Thomas J Marchant, it also features another of my Persistent Callers one Chas Holman, better known to the musical world we inhabit as 333maxwell. Yes, him again, and him (again) kinda/sorta. Anyway, before I completely bog down before I start lets get to the action. Like good online collaborations, it all sounds so simple. 'I sent Chas a recording of the guitar part and a few vocal parts and he put all this stuff all over it and made it all sound nice' Thomas yaps as he presents this morsel to us showing that he is indeed a true Englishman. Understatement is a well known English trait and should be completely ignored in this case. After all, I think this is the very first time that two, note TWO, of my Artist('s) Of The Year have appeared on the same track. I'm sure some brainless nerd will come along any minute to prove me wrong but in the meantime...

That's my story. That's my stickum.

Sounded great on paper, I have to admit. A collaboration between a musician who has made his name by making his own special brand of music, and a musician who is a ******* masterchef who seems to have mastered most known brands of music. One you like for his amiable charm and witty style and one you hate for being so good it makes you vomit. 'You make it look so easy' Thomas sings in the song and that could well be the motto for this entire project. I've followed Thomas's music for a long time now and am fully acclimatised to his particular style and - I admit - I expected to be able to tell which parts are Thomas and which parts are Maxwellian. Actually, it's easy enough given the clues in the song notes but you certainly wouldn't be thinking that if you heard the track without all this useless trivia.

Listening to the track, it's hard to tell where Thomas leaves off and Chas gets going, so seamless is the fit. Moreover, the musical muscle that Chas applies here is the biggest surprise. It is entirely in keeping with the Thomas J style, and that, my dubious friends, is going to be a hard, hard trick to pull off. As I said, there isn't anyone around quite like Thomas who quietly (if frequently) treads his own path and it's going to be a rare musician whose work would so properly enhance and broaden Thomas's already wide appeal. THIS is what I have always imagined when reviewing Thomas's work in the past. For my part, this is a bloody classic, not least because it features two of my favourite musicians, and its unbelievably gorgeous but because this is Thomas J Marchant as I've always imagined he would sound when put to the rigours of commercial production.

Awesome song. MUST HAVE all round.