Jon Fazal - Insomniacs' Ball 
Release Date: Out Now
I think I might be a little bit in love with Jon Fazal, or at the very least his music. The Plymouth based troubadour has a bewitching style and elegance about his music that this album demonstrates superbly but don't take my word for it, why don't we let the songs do the talking? 'Insomniacs' Ball' opens with title track it is as heady a brew as you'll find at any party this festive season with magical acoustic notes intermingling with woozy violins and Fazal's velvet vocals beckoning you to join the revelries. 'Quiver', by contrast, is a more laid-back and reflective affair that positively melts into your arms at the end of a hard day, week, month or year.
There's a hint of Jake Morley to 'The Ferryman' in its storytelling style but the pub choir on the chorus makes the story swell and there's a Rhodes organ sound that transports you to the dimly lit corner of a free house with a pint of something comforting (something like the Bread and Roses in Plymouth if you know your Janner pubs). The jaunty country lilt of 'Limestone Country' suggests that Fazal has attended the odd Paul Armer gig and listened to a few Bob Dylan records while 'Sarah' takes us back to that pub fireside with warmth, nostalgia and kitchen-sink drama lyricism. 'Homecoming' continues the intimate theme and by now you should at least be falling hard for Fazal's voice in all its soulful, doleful, wonderfulness.
The urban folk of 'Camelot' blends the Kinks, Billy Bragg and Elvis Costello into a song that is unexpectedly disarming and by the time the slide guitar, violin and piano joins in you really get the sense that this is song (nay, a whole album) carefully crafted with love, purpose and attention to detail. On 'Borderlands' Fazal takes a turn down a darker alley but a lightness of touch and deftness of tone that you won't hear him gently creeping through the fallen leaves. 'New Moon' takes us on a meander from acoustic ramblings and ivory tinkling into a full blown, Queen-esque rock out replete with a squalling guitar solo and a stomping beat with a live sound to the production. The album closes, somewhat triumphantly, with 'Visions Of A Lighthouse'; a song that wouldn't be out of place on a Beatles album of lost tapes with its McCartney-esque piano melody and grandiose swell that raises the hairs on your neck and will put lumps in the sternest of throats. I can't say it any more plainly than this; Jon Fazal is an exceptional song writing talent with a beautiful voice and this album shows both of these qualities off with style, humility and a quiet confidence that, yes, makes me love him. It's not just the music.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/jonfazalmusic