Duff apparently has some other band he’s known for to be working on and to be honest, every time I’ve seen this band play, he’s never been there so Walking Papers for me has never felt like a band that Duff was truly part of. This is an album that of course sees founder members Barrett Martin and Duff McKagan step away. Even the solo at 6 minutes feels like it’s been aged in an oak barrel for 20 years such is the emotion behind every-single-note! It is definitely the whiskey for connoisseurs of whiskey. I’d seen one comment about the single that suggested this was “proper music for proper people”. That vibe, that feeling is the one that Walking Papers continue to achieve with each successive release. At the 2 minute mark, the song steps up a gear and if you’ve not been drawn in yet, this is moment, the point in the song where John Belushi would proclaim “I have seen the light”. Not if you do it well and if you want to hear what ‘well’ sounds like then check this out. For those that bemoan the album and say “but the singles are the future”, no they aren’t. The latest video to tee up the new release is “Divine Intervention” and yet again it offers something new, something that holds the attention and more importantly makes us appreciate the whole ethos around releasing an album of new material. To be honest it’s that comparison that feels the closes if you truly want to understand the band before taking the plunge. Yes, Angell’s voice feels like it was born through a deal with the Devil but the distorted guitar work on “The Value of Zero”, the thunderous drums and Benjamin Anderson keyboards create a fog of sound surrounding the band that bring to mind a darker dystopian version of the Doors. If, from the commentary so far that you assume it’s all going to be blues and whiskey, it’s not. Second single is the whiskey-voiced, bluesy “The Value of Zero”, the video for which can be seen below to give you a taste of what else comes with the album. I’m sure we’ve all done that from time to time and as ever with a Walking Papers release, the lyrics have been carefully considered and are given the exact amount of space within the music to allow the listener to pay attention, take notes and reflect upon the messages Angell is delivering. Lyrically Jeff Angell challenges anyone who has dug themselves a hole, or who stood in their own way. Whether Byrne does wax lyrical about WP, who knows…. You never know quite what to expect from the band and the same was always the case with Talking Heads. It’s got everything Byrne embraces when it comes to style, art, lyrical content and more. This is the sort of music that I always imagine Talking Head’s David Byrne telling all of his friends about. Released last year (August) at the height of the pandemic it’s as easy to wonder if it’s about the world at the moment or simply a reiteration of “this is what we do best musically, what did you expect from us?” There are always two ways of looking at and interpreting music and I think I’ll go with the latter because this is exactly what I’ve come to expect from the band.
The first single off the album, “What Did You Expect?” was a wonderful way to tease us with the content for the remaining tracks. These songs are special in their approach to their own idea and I’m thrilled to share them with anyone who will listen.” It’s changes and dynamics are crucial to it’s magic. “We wanted to pull the arrow back a little further before we let it fly.
Thus we find ourselves in possession of the 3rd release from Walking Papers “This album was different by design,” explains principal writer, vocalist and guitarist Jefferson Angell. No tours, no festivals for over 12 months and thus the opportunity afforded to everyone has been the chance to put down some new music. Walking Papers – Live at The Borderline, London, September 18th, 2018Ģ021, like many artists have discovered is the year then for new music. The review from that show can be found here: Catching a band right at the beginning of their journey, just as their debut album is coming out is always something that sticks in the mind and I’ve managed to follow them over the years with the follow up WP2 offering me the opportunity to catch them in my home country and town back in 2018. Having first seen the band live in Finland at the Circus club in the centre of Helsinki, it was pretty obvious they offered something quite special. Benjamin Anderson – keyboards, backing vocals
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