>> ABC
>> 27th October 2006I suspect I’m not alone in having developed a chronic fear of the term ‘singer songwriter’ in recent years. Although I’d like to blame James Blunt (for most things, actually) it’s the sheer volume of earnest, polite young men bombarding the airwaves with songs of ‘lost/found/oops lost it again’ love that makes it almost impossible to pick out any true gems from the mire.
Step forward Duke Special, with a genre-busting combination of pop, music hall pomp and lyrical honesty that has had critics clutching at straws for comparisons. With shades of everything from Tom Waits, Badly Drawn Boy and ‘Cabaret’ in his repertoire, the Belfast boy stands out like a welcome sore thumb in the current glut of posh minstrels.
If The Cure’s Robert Smith and Linda Perry from Four Non Blondes had had a baby (it could still happen!), he might have looked more than a little bit like the Duke. All smudged eyeliner, fabulous dreads and cord flares, Mr. Special, or Peter Wilson to his maw, pitches his style as ‘hobo chic’, coining a phrase which neatly sums up both his under-styled image and chaotic, beautiful live show.
With a stage act that includes piano, a gramophone and a percussionist who has a cheese grater and is not afraid to use it, Duke is acutely aware of the power of performance, and humour, as a vehicle for his music.
“Maybe I don’t look or sound like the coolest indie band that’s around at the minute but maybe what I have to say is still valid and there will be people who like that,” he ventures.
“I’ve always enjoyed music and film and theatre that bring you on a kind of rollercoaster, where one minute you’re really laughing and the next something really poignant happens.
“I wanted to have that same kind of approach to the concert. When I started as a solo act, I had this bunch of songs that I’d recorded in this really old sounding way and I thought ‘how am I going to do these live, just on a piano?’
“I’d been watching a film about Andy Kaufman, Man on the Moon, and there’s a bit where he uses a record player in his act and I thought what a great idea that was, so I had a gramophone onstage. I became really aware of how people perceive the sound by what they see. It does half the battle for you, in the same way as artwork on an album can do.”
Despite receiving piano lessons from a young age and honing his vocal skills in church choirs back home in Ireland, it’s plain from his approach that Duke is no purist when it comes to performance.
“I’ve never been able to play jazz or classical music to any great level of expertise. Somebody described the way I play piano like the way your granny would do it, you know, kind of like a jaunty, singalong kind of thing. That’s what I grew up doing, everyone would stand around the piano, especially at Christmas time at my aunt’s house, and everyone had to do party pieces.”
A typical headlining gig these days sees Duke accompanied on stage by anything up to 10 musicians, but for his slot supporting the Divine Comedy at the ABC, the act is pared down to the main man himself and trusty one man percussion section Chip Bailey.
The duo do a fine job of confounding, amusing and moving the ABC crowd right from the off, starting with ‘Brixton Leaves’ from new album Songs From the Deep Forest. With atmospheric ivory tinkling that wouldn’t be out of place in a 1920s silent movie and a swelling, cymbal crashing, bass drum thumping climax, the stage is set for a genuinely original musical experience.
The jaunty ‘Portrait’ sees Chip take centre stage, clattering a home made instrument which consists of various items attached to a broomstick handle, including a bell and battered old pan, but it’s past single ‘Last Night I Nearly Died’ that’s the stand out song of the set, mixing motown rhythm and soaring singing to maximum effect.
‘Freeway’ showcases an impressive vocal range, with Duke effortlessly hitting the high notes of the chorus while battering the feck out of his long suffering piano keys, a refreshing lack of deference for the instrument underlined by his half hearted attempt to pick it up and throw it at the close of the set.
‘Songs From the Deep Forest’ is out now, but catching the live show is a must for anyone looking to inject something of the theatrical into their gig going experience. Fear not if you’ve missed the Scottish Dates, trusty old Jools Holland welcomes Duke Special to his humble abode this Friday. Worth staying in for.
>> Annie McLaughlin
www.dukespecial.com
