Chris T-T : Love Is Not Rescue
Released: Out Now!
Label: Xtra Mile
After nine years of working on his epic 'London Trilogy' of rock albums about the UK's capital city, with only a short diversion for 2005's political-folk mini-album 9 Red Songs, Brighton-based singer-songwriter Chris T-T is finally free to put out an album of songs not tied to any topic, theme or concept. Not that various ideas weren't batted around as we waited to see where Chris would take us next; a concept album about giraffes, a mini-album of improvised piano and an album written and recorded while under the influence of LSD were all mooted at some point.
But with Love Is Not Rescue we're treated to something that's both a departure from what we might expect, but at the same time perhaps more traditional than any of Chris' previous work. It's an album of beautiful, quiet, introspective songs about love, loss and life.
Album opener and single Nintendo has a name that you'd be more likely to see on the tracklisting of the latest record from whichever ultra-cool indie band is entertaining the geek-chic crowd in the pubs of Camden. But rather than an upbeat pop-song ready to collapse under the weight of it's videogame references, it's a wonderful piano-led ballad about trying to get by in life while not forgetting to actually live it.
At this point I could easily go through every track and write hundreds of words on each, but instead I'll try and pick out just enough to convince you to buy it, and experience the rest yourself. Market Square is simply the A. A. Milne poem put to music, but if you didn't already know this you'd be hard-pressed to notice that it was ever anything but this song, the music and words fitting so perfectly. It also adds to Chris' now sizeable collection of happy little songs about animals.
The titular track, Love Is Not Rescue, is an organ-led look at exactly what the name suggests. It's almost an anti-love song, arguing that love is not all you need, and that while love may be something special, it's not a fix-all for a life. That unless you're happy in and of yourself, searching for someone to 'complete' you will never work.
The album closer, Words Fail Me is perhaps the most reminiscent of Chris' previous work. One of the louder, faster more upbeat tracks on the album, it looks back on a life where sometimes you just can't say the right thing.
The album as a whole feels like it matters. While it lacks any tracks with the angry political bite of his past work, Love Is Not Rescue is still an album with something to say and it says it brilliantly.
The only downside is that it's all over too quickly, and at ten tracks you're left wanting to hear more.
Words: Dean Love
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