A new album from Mark Eitzel is always a feverishly anticipated affair, as his following is among the most hardcore and devoted of any underground act.
What makes the imminent arrival of his latest LP offering Hey Mr Ferryman so exciting, as well as surely bringing him to a richly deserved new audience, is a lush and subtly sumptuous element brought by the presence of Suede‘s Bernard Butler at the production helm.
As this taster, ‘No Answer’, displays vividly, Butler has been respectful, doing nothing to reduce the emotional punch of Eitzel’s intimate and confessional style, nor smoothed off any of the raw beauty of his vocals. But he has quietly elevated the song beyond the realms of mere singer/songwriter territory and launched it towards the stars with magical strings and all manner of other deft, but almost imperceptible, touches.
Indeed, Butler himself will be performing with Eitzel at his forthcoming London show at Bush Hall on March 7, but his accomplished band will be touring the UK from Bristol to Glasgow throughout the month and attendance is highly recommended.
