JW Francis

I debated whether to go to this in-store for the release of JW Francis’s ‘Dream House’, as I planned to go in St Albans and work beforehand and it would be difficult to do both. However, on woke up on the morning and decided to work from home and try my best to do both. 

The problem with in-stores in the Shires, they often don’t start on time. Artists are reliant on trains or battling traffic. Often having visited a London store earlier in the day. Tonight, the expectant crowd had to wait as JW got stuck in traffic and I might have spent most of my time staring at my phone trying to work out if I could still get to the Horn on time. Luckily, he wasn’t delayed too much. 

I am really pleased I made the effort. It was one of those evenings where the immediacy of an in-store benefitted the artist. James plays that kind of laid back DIY jangly guitar bedroom produced sound perfected by artists like Jeffrey Lewis. That kind of sound that never sounds fully produced, but always seems completely authentic. Like your friend is playing their songs in your living room. All helped by silly jokes and self-deprecating humour. 

I have to admit, I didn’t really get the album on first listen. Live, performed by genuinely engaging artist. The songs from the album really came alive and I thoroughly enjoyed tonight’s gig.

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