The new album out on 3rd April 2006 on Wonky Atlas. Available in all good record stores - buy now.
Welcome to the Jason McNiff website
Here's the latest news, information and live dates...
Are you interested in GUITAR LESSONS?
Jason is available for a limited time for teaching
£20 per hour - Please call 07988 026347.
MOJO Magazine 2007
Another Man (Wonky Atlas 2006)
UKs most underrated americana artist returns with all the hallmarks of a breakthrough album
Jason McNiff’s last album Nobodys Son was Americana UK’s album of the year for 2003, and a more naturally English but successfully authentic take on americana you would still be hard pushed to find. Three years later and McNiff is back with a collection that immediately dispels the difficult third album syndrome that occasionally artists almost mythically fall prey to, managing to sound like an evolution of the sound he’s already set such high standards for without being an actual, to use the cliché, revolution. The album kicks off in subdued form with the title track and some of the most personal lyrics McNiff has yet written, examining the way people s titles become far too much of an identity marker for who they are disguising all other facets – there’s a sociological essay in there somewhere. And indeed if he doesnt want to be pigeonholed accordingly (the Dylan comparisons will still come thick and fast mind you) the album provides many twists and turns – despite the English folk arrangements, the songs were written in Southern Spain and Italy and the sometimes unfathomable lyricism belies the fact that his stories can be listened to again and again, never quite clicking but you always feel like you are getting somewhere.
The themes are constant, travel and pilgrimage, indeed oil raises its head more than once transforming a substance these days deemed so overtly political into something with an altogether more down to earth function. While the arrangements themselves are perhaps more lowkey than the songs on both albums preceding, Delia and In Our Time in particular, the melodies are still sweeter than dripping honey and there are some absolute standout tracks that at least rival the elegiac I remember you – Broken Down and Hills of Rome are both instant classics which highlight both McNiff s wonderfully evocative voice and magical guitar work. And despite the more laid back feel of most of the record, there is also one big chorus track in the form of Berries which would sound good on any Steve Earle record of the nineties. McNiff is perhaps the most underrated performer on the UK americana scene today but it will be a freakish alignment of missed opportunities if this doesnt break him through into a name more recognised throughout the country. At just eight tracks long, McNiff has recorded a succinct, beautifully arranged and involving album that demands listen after listen but never feels like it reaches so much as its half life. You will be spending time with it for that long. Mark Whitfield
*Join our Mailing List*
Join our mailing list to keep you updated on Jason's forthcoming gigs Email: postmaster@jasonmcniff.com with "Mailing List" as the subject line.
