Ship to Shore by Richard Thompson
‘Ship to Shore’ by Richard Thompson
Because Richard Thompson has never truly sounded young—not when he co-founded Fairport Convention in 1967, not when he paired with then-wife Linda for many of the best folk-rock records of the 1970s and early 1980s, and certainly not in the decades since—it wouldn’t make sense to suggest he sounds young now, at 75.
Of late, though, he sounds … livelier. Discs like 2013’s Electric and 2015’s Still indicated a willful renewal of creative drive, and his newest LP, Ship to Shore, almost audibly cocks an eyebrow at anyone who thinks the English singer, songwriter, and guitarist would rest solely on his reputation.
Nor does Thompson drastically alter what he’s been doing for well over a half-century, breathing the ancient mists of traditional non-classical English (and Irish, and Scottish and Welsh) music while also gusting away the heavier fog of traditionalism with bracing gales of jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, and a peculiarly pensive version of pop.
“Freeze” kicks off Ship to Shore and reintroduces the approach: a guitar figure that could be pilfered from a madrigal dances over drummer Michael Jerome and bassist Taras Prodaniuk’s cantering rhythm as Thompson unspools many a moment when a person teeters between safety and risk.
With the quiet flair of craftsmanship, Thompson strides through “The Day I Give In,” which seems to shimmer with the heat of New Mexico deserts; jitters within the jangly chords of “Turnstile Casanova”; and hints at the coolly staid attitude of Mark Knopfler through “What’s Left to Lose.”
Unsurprisingly but also enchantingly, he sings with dark and low assurance and plays acoustic and electric guitar with the compactly melodic skill that puts him alongside Lindsey Buckingham and the late Tommy Keene. If the final track, “We Roll,” admits to a characteristic cynicism about his life as a working musician, then Ship to Shore as a whole demonstrates that the grind hasn’t ground down his artistry.
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