Adam Norsworthy – Shadow On The Hill
With Shadow On The Hill, London based singer-songwriter & multi-instrumentalist Adam Norsworthy (guitarist in modern RnB band The Milk Men, front man of blues-rock band The Mustangs, Festival Director of charity/ blues event Milkfest) has bared his musical, and personal, soul.
His sixth solo album, Shadow On The Hill is a ten song collection that chronicles the breakdown of an intense relationship.
Fusing pop, rock, folk, country & blues, the album also acts as a metaphor for the current state of the world, where polarisation of opinions, from the personal to the political, are so divisive that the strongest of relationships are cracking, or ending, under the strain.
His sixth solo album, Shadow On The Hill is a ten song collection that chronicles the breakdown of an intense relationship.
Fusing pop, rock, folk, country & blues, the album also acts as a metaphor for the current state of the world, where polarisation of opinions, from the personal to the political, are so divisive that the strongest of relationships are cracking, or ending, under the strain.
Written, produced and performed by Adam Norsworthy (with drums by Tim Weller) the album is bolstered by a tangible and fully intentional sonic atmosphere, courtesy of Norsworthy’s now long-term working relationship with Wayne Proctor, who mixed and mastered the album.
The album opens with delicate acoustic & atmospheric instrumental 'All The Red Things;' whether the title refers to warning signs ahead or some other meaning is not made clear, but the subtle sombreness of the piece certainly sets the textural tone.
Such sombreness continues, albeit briefly, through the soft keys that introduce 'Holding You Down.'
However the song quickly builds to become a folksy up-tempo with hi-pop sensibilities, where synth keys and guitar lines play in perfect, 80s sheened harmony while Adam Norsworthy reflects with a genuinely heartfelt, huskier vocal ("I feel I’m holding you down, again").
The bluesy country-folk rhythm 'n' jangle of 'I’ll Stand By Her' is a lovely little number that features a lyric that acts as a relationship defence or, perhaps, denial ("man, if you believe it, say it to my face if you dare").
Realisation then follows with the heavy and forlorn acoutic ballad 'Telephone Silence' (very few of us haven’t been there at some point); the ringing out tone and engaged tone at start and end of the number are nice, poignant touches.
Adam Norsworthy's songcraft is perhaps best exemplified by 'Nothing WIll Repair Me,' a beautifully melancholic old-school pop ballad that, in a previous musical time and space, Roy Orbison would have had a massive, high-voiced hit with.
Similarly impacting is the up-tempo 'Let Her Get On With Her Life,' which returns to the classy hi-pop and catchy melodies that Adam Norsworthy seems to be able to deliver with consummate ease.
The downtempo and beautifully atmospheric 'You’re Gone' (kudos here to the space and rhythm created by Tim Weller, which add to the song’s dynamic) is the natural lyrical follow-on to the preceding number, while the acoustic plaintiveness of 'Keep On Living' is the acceptance of the situation ("want to stay together, but somehow you don’t; the pain of that cuts you to the bone… gotta keep on living").
The Nashville-tinged title track (that there are echoes here musically of Springsteen’s 'I’m On Fire' is no bad thing) is the final realisation that what was is now over, yet the memory remains ("how can I put the past behind me, when I’m thinking of you still… the shadow on the hill").
Short, acoustic led instrumental 'September,' which closes out the album, tells you that the month is as significant as the memory that remains within the title track.
Every Adam Norsworthy solo release merits attention, particularly for those who love singer-songwriter storytelling and warm, musical intimacy (best played with the lights down and a glass of the good stuff to hand).
That he’s never been more lyrically honest whilst wearing his heart on his musical sleeve, however, sets Shadow On The Hill apart as a soul-bearing catharsis from an acclaimed, but ridiculously underrated singer-songwriter in the old-school tradition.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Shadow On The Hill is available on CD from www.adamnorsworthy.co.uk and digitally from Amazon, iTunes and all usual online retailers.
The album opens with delicate acoustic & atmospheric instrumental 'All The Red Things;' whether the title refers to warning signs ahead or some other meaning is not made clear, but the subtle sombreness of the piece certainly sets the textural tone.
Such sombreness continues, albeit briefly, through the soft keys that introduce 'Holding You Down.'
However the song quickly builds to become a folksy up-tempo with hi-pop sensibilities, where synth keys and guitar lines play in perfect, 80s sheened harmony while Adam Norsworthy reflects with a genuinely heartfelt, huskier vocal ("I feel I’m holding you down, again").
The bluesy country-folk rhythm 'n' jangle of 'I’ll Stand By Her' is a lovely little number that features a lyric that acts as a relationship defence or, perhaps, denial ("man, if you believe it, say it to my face if you dare").
Realisation then follows with the heavy and forlorn acoutic ballad 'Telephone Silence' (very few of us haven’t been there at some point); the ringing out tone and engaged tone at start and end of the number are nice, poignant touches.
Adam Norsworthy's songcraft is perhaps best exemplified by 'Nothing WIll Repair Me,' a beautifully melancholic old-school pop ballad that, in a previous musical time and space, Roy Orbison would have had a massive, high-voiced hit with.
Similarly impacting is the up-tempo 'Let Her Get On With Her Life,' which returns to the classy hi-pop and catchy melodies that Adam Norsworthy seems to be able to deliver with consummate ease.
The downtempo and beautifully atmospheric 'You’re Gone' (kudos here to the space and rhythm created by Tim Weller, which add to the song’s dynamic) is the natural lyrical follow-on to the preceding number, while the acoustic plaintiveness of 'Keep On Living' is the acceptance of the situation ("want to stay together, but somehow you don’t; the pain of that cuts you to the bone… gotta keep on living").
The Nashville-tinged title track (that there are echoes here musically of Springsteen’s 'I’m On Fire' is no bad thing) is the final realisation that what was is now over, yet the memory remains ("how can I put the past behind me, when I’m thinking of you still… the shadow on the hill").
Short, acoustic led instrumental 'September,' which closes out the album, tells you that the month is as significant as the memory that remains within the title track.
Every Adam Norsworthy solo release merits attention, particularly for those who love singer-songwriter storytelling and warm, musical intimacy (best played with the lights down and a glass of the good stuff to hand).
That he’s never been more lyrically honest whilst wearing his heart on his musical sleeve, however, sets Shadow On The Hill apart as a soul-bearing catharsis from an acclaimed, but ridiculously underrated singer-songwriter in the old-school tradition.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Shadow On The Hill is available on CD from www.adamnorsworthy.co.uk and digitally from Amazon, iTunes and all usual online retailers.