Album Notes

In 'Electric Boulevard', Jude Gwynaire mixes up a stiffener to clear the head, or to fortify against the rigours of the day. Triple measures and muddy cocktails are off the menu. We are going on a trip and Jude is in the driving seat – our tour guide for this urban odyssey!

Don’t come in search of stuffy rhythms and claustrophobic chord structures. Jude’s soundscape here is open and expansive – he drives with the top down! He has discovered a big sound, mid-Atlantic, metropolitan, ever reaching towards distant horizons, sweeping upwards, doffing his hat to the ‘80’s as he builds momentum through the opening tracks.

We find ourselves powering along an eight lane freeway, via 'Fluidity', 'Neon' and 'Span Dan' – the first of several stand-out tracks. Mirrored skyscrapers tower on either side as the crystalline cityscape promised by the album’s sleeve is conjured up in sweeping gestures and broad strokes, bigger than imagined, ornamented by a florid top line – a 'Picasso Skyline' of evolving complexity as we plunge into 'Ambience' and push onward, 'In The Park'.

For the second leg of the journey we find the open spaces closing down as the walls around us press in a little tighter. We’re leaving the main road, now, and entering a Soho to the first half’s Main Street - but one feels safe in the passenger seat with Jude at the wheel.

Indeed, he rises to the technical rigours of independent production to prove himself a virtuoso, with no small amount of flair. By his close attention to detail, he earns our attention in return. His playing is organic and varied throughout and his toolkit is deployed with a deft touch to bolster the emotional punch.

A well-oiled, finely-tuned engine purrs under the bonnet and we never miss a gear as our impetus drives us through the final four tracks, and we emerge, once again, into the open spaces, passing through the urban sprawl of 'Delta Street Blues', and then on into memory with 'Sodium Ghosts' - a track which rings in the ears like a picture postcard image of the city fast-receding in our rear view mirror.

Highly recommended!

Toby French (UK film director and critic).