Richard Thompson - Ship To Shore (2024)

From his time in folk-rock innovators Fairport Convention through the 50 years since his solo debut Henry the Human Fly, Richard Thompson has qualified as an obvious legend. His songwriting, singing, and guitar playing all stand out as both exceptional and versatile. Now in a later phase of his evolution, he's moved away from the exploratory nature of his early and mid-career albums; like other recent Thopmson albums, Ship to Shore focuses on presenting a new set of his amazing songs and delivery, with a balance of cohesion and variety.

Thompson's solo albums since his debut in 1972—a year after leaving Fairport Convention— through the '90s, emphasized his collaboration with production and engineering teams. On 1974's Henry the Human Fly and the classic Richard & Linda Thompson albums that followed it, producer Joe Boyd encouraged John Wood's beautiful mixes to shine. Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake brought a decade of their unusual keyboards and inventive mix ideas starting with 1986's Daring Adventures. This chapter ends with Rob Schnapf and Tom Rothrock's 1999 work on Mock Tudor, coupling simpler arrangements with crisp elements of '90s alt-rock.

Since 2003's The Old Kit Bag, Thompson's albums of new songs have had more straightforward production and mixes, even on albums with prominent musicians like Buddy Miller and Jeff Tweedy as producers. Drummer Michael Jerome has worked with Thompson since The Old Kit Bag, and Taras Prodaniuk joined on bass for 2007's Sweet Warrior.

While songs on Ship to Shore vary in volume, tempo, and arrangement, they generally fall in the middle of his dynamic and emotional range. The album's highest peaks—"Maybe" and "Turnstile Casanova"—never approach the blistering catharsis of "Shoot Out the Lights." The acoustic arrangement that starts "Singapore Sadie" and the jazz-informed tonality of "Life's a Bloody Show" still pair with rock elements with more visceral punch than Thompson's acoustic hits like "Beeswing" or "Vincent Black Lightning 1952." The combination of electric guitar and rock drums with fiddle and acoustic guitar gives the album a versatile tonal palette, as these elements take turns in the foreground.

Like any Richard Thompson album, the guitar solos emphasize some key emotional highlights. On Ship to Shore, in generally modest amounts of space, as on the 16-measure outro of opener "Freeze," they combine creative tonal and formal explorations with his obvious fretboard dexterity.

TRACKLIST

1. Richard Thompson - Freeze
2. Richard Thompson - The Fear Never Leaves You
3. Richard Thompson - Singapore Sadie
4. Richard Thompson - Trust
5. Richard Thompson - The Day That I Give In
6. Richard Thompson - The Old Pack Mule
7. Richard Thompson - Turnstile Casanova
8. Richard Thompson - Lost In The Crowd
9. Richard Thompson - Maybe
10. Richard Thompson - Life’s A Bloody Show
11. Richard Thompson - What’s Left To Lose
12. Richard Thompson - We Roll