Bella Union

Prolific songwriter and guitar virtuoso David Tattersall presents 11 new songs on themes of memory, dreams, loneliness and love, featuring nylon-string guitar improvisations in the vein of gypsy jazz legend Django Reinhardt.

The David Tattersall Group are old friends who rehearsed together for months in a small, smoky, sweaty room, before recording the album on a huge red boat moored on the River Thames, all vintage microphones and wooden walls inside. Friendship is a vital part of the record’s magic. Stylistic influences include Ronnie Lane, after whom one song is named, and the nylon-string guitar work of Jonathan Richman and Willie Nelson. A pastoral mood prevails, with swells of melancholic violin and Spaghetti Western harmonica, backed by honky-tonk piano and the dry drum sounds of Neil Young’s Harvest period, while the golden voice of Holly Holden adds a touch of glamour to proceedings. David’s process includes much musical improvisation and stream-ofconsciousness writing, but his end goal is to couple classic songwriting with the collective chemistry of musicians playing live in the studio. His lyric influences include Tom Verlaine, John Cooper Clarke and the New York School of Poets, particularly James Schuyler.

The vinyl comes with a downloadable version featuring two covers of Townes Van Zandt and Jimi Hendrix.