This track could be a sickly sweet sentimental dirge, but whilst the lyrics and wistful instruments come close to crossing the line into an overly romantic song, it just about stays on the side of a song with integrity and not a song that is designed to pull on the heart strings of it’s audience. This is a song that relentlessly tells the listener that it is not fame and fortune that drives singer Ben Hudson but it is a picture of his loved one. It about losing a loved one and knowing you will never see them again but how comfort can be found in having a picture of them. However, far from being overly sentimental, this is a beautiful track full of emotion and uplifting lyrics.
This is a musical ballad with a modern twist. It is a piano based song with an electronic makeover. It is a lulling, floating track tha rises and falls in the way a dragonfly moves in cool summer air.
The band have recently completed tours with Amy Winehouse, Groove Armada and Mika and appear to be flavour of the moment with the likes of Kanye West, Dizzee Rascal and Sting. Quite an eclectic group of people. What makes this band different from so many others is that it is not only able to understand the importance of well written lyrics (something that seems so often to be unimportant to bands), they are also able to take an old-fashioned sound of a pre-war ballad full of pianos and strings and make it sound completely modern. And it works. I enjoyed this single and even though the CD had 3 versions of the same song, it did not detract from the fact, this is something I enjoyed.
The song is taken from the band’s debut album,
A Tale Of Two Cities. Videos of various tracks including
Picture Of You can be found at
www.youtube.com/mrhudsonslibrary and tracks can be heard at the bands MySpace site at
www.myspace.com/mrhudson
This is intelligent music that doesn’t preach but can be enjoyed without that feeling that some bands have of being better than the audience they are playing for. Amongst the various shows coming up, Mr Hudson & The Library can be seen at the ABC2 in Glasgow on 23rd October.
The band also have one of the best looking sites I have seen in a while at
www.mrhudsonandthelibrary.com The single is available now on CD and on download.
