Music : Notes on Love

Rating: - These notes are well worth paying attention to.
Known mainly for being the singer for David Holmes Free Association Petra Jean Phillipson,s debut solo album showcases her as a notable singer/ songwriter in her own right. Stylistically you can pitch her as a gossamer amalgamation of P J Harvey, Portisheads Beth Gibbons, Beth Orton and the smoky siren qualities of Bille Holliday. That's some combination and in actuality promises more than it delivers. But it promises so very, very much so Notes on Love is in some respects a triumph.
Produced by ex Verve guitarist Simon Tong this is a supremely confident collection of songs. "One Day" is a majestic slinky ballad, with evocative backing vocals coiling around a skeletal acoustic arrangement. "Independent Woman" starts like a supreme slice of early P J Harvey with choppy chords but soon adds a coating of jazzy atmospherics. The profane lyrics on "I Want the Impossible" provide suitable stroppy tension on a song that seems to a be a list of demands centred on a bare bones acoustic guitar and some spooky ambience. "Nothing If Not Writing Time" is another subtle gem, with more low key instrumentation where Phillipsons mesmerising vocals take precedence. There is a spectral cover of Nick Caves wonderful "Into My Arms", providing another P J Harvey link as the album that was taken from- "Boatman's Call" was ostensibly about his relationship with Harvey. "Wildfire" like a couple of the other songs on the album drifts pleasantly but unremarkably by until it's last third when swarthy slabs of electronic tone colour the song like a vivid bruise. "On Me Jack" lets her voice really prowl around the twanging chords before letting rip. Final track "The Cradle of Your Smile" is the most ambitious song on the album. Fat gobs of double bass and crisp piano/organ dominate before some "Twilight Zone" mood sounds percolate through the mix. The song is flagged at over nine minutes but that's because after its run its course it runs silently on to an unscheduled recording that showcases what a talented vocalist Phillipson is.
Notes On Love should bring this artist to a wider audience and quite right too, but it would be a shame if she is assimilated into the coffee table/ dinner party set like so many bands/artists before her. I think she's safe though. This is actually far too challenging a listen, too dark of tone and if nothing else all the swearing will put them off. Notes on Love is not perfect but deserves to be heard by lots of people. Just not with the master chef crowd dahhhhhling.