For someone not yet in the mainstream, Connor Selby is putting together an impressive pedigree, supporting The Who at Wembley, Pearl Jam at Hyde Park, plus performing with Beth Hart, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Robert Cray.
Selby is a rootsy bluesman, and his music is riven through with heartfelt emotion and feelings. The songs on this album are about my feelings of being in the world and ‘not really feeling like I belong’. There’s a definite theme permeating the album, which is love and the problems involved in holding onto it. The words he sings won’t qualify as rocket science, but they convey meaning and most listeners will be able to identify with issues like bad luck in love, how good life feels with the ‘right’ person in your life, loving someone but that person wants to change you into something else, etc. We’ve all been there.
This is summed up in the opening track ‘Someone,’ celebrating how much better life is when someone loves you. It’s a lively track, backed with prominent and upbeat horns, and this is the same with several other songs on the album, such as title track ‘The Truth Comes Out Eventually,’ claiming no matter what masks we wear, the truth always comes out, which has shades of BB King in the mix with some very fine guitar licks, and also the equally upbeat ‘I’ll Never Learn’. One noticeable feature on this album is the organ sound on tracks like ‘All Out Of Luck’ and the BB King-inspired ‘It Hurts To Be In Love,’ giving the music a golden glow.
But the other side of Connor Selby comes out when there’s much less backing. The slow emotional ballad ‘What Else Is There To Say,’ where he sings “you gave me love, now you’ve left,” features just guitar and piano, along with some fine organ, and the feeling really comes through. Similarly, ‘Amelia’ starts with just an acoustic guitar and is a delightful piece with very little backing, as is the gorgeous ‘Songbird,’ with beautiful accompanying female backing on this slow emotional ballad.
There’s plenty of soul and blues in Selby’s music; his guitar work is good, and he conveys raw emotion in his music. But I’d prefer to see his music breathe a little more with much less backing, allowing sparse emotions to shine through.
Connor Selby’s new studio album The Truth Comes Out Eventually, is out now via Provogue.
