BWW Album Review: HADLEY FRASER AND WILL BUTTERWORTH - LIGHTS AROUND THE SHORE

On a summer day in 2014, Hadley Fraser pulled a Taylor Swift (or was it still a Beyoncé at the time?) and dropped his first EP, self-written, Just Let Go out of the blue.

Now, eight years later, it feels like a treat to receive a new album (announced in a timely fashion this time) from the thespian, who's joined by Will Butterworth on piano this time.

Lights Around the Shore is Fraser's first published collaboration with the jazz player, but the two have been performing together on stage for a while.

The track list is a collection of beloved covers reimagined by the pair. They go from Sondheim's "Anyone Can Whistle" and "One Hand, One Heart", to unexpected medleys - Joe Jackson's hit "Steppin' Out" is combined with Dante Gabriel Rossetti's poem Sudden Light and The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" with The Beatles' "She's Leaving Home"- via Nat King Cole, Harry Connick Jr, and Tony Bennett.

As a body of work, the record feels like finally winding down after a rough day, glass of wine in hand and soft tunes on. It's marvellously serene. Butterworth's flourishes are devastating in their beauty and become a whole other voice that sits next to Fraser's, rather than acting as mere accompaniment to it.

There's a wistful, melancholic vibe that runs across the nine tracks, with the arrangements kept to a luxurious simplicity and exceptional cohesiveness. The 53 minutes are a journey through love, longing, and heartbreak - the deepest core of the human condition.

Music and lyrics are the main characters, Fraser and Butterworth become the carriers of their meanings. They shift the light and present the songs in their own original take, almost toning them down by keeping the production to a humble minimum. This doesn't mean the numbers preclude them the chance to show off their assets. Quite the opposite.

Fraser's velutinous voice creeps up delicate and melodious before breaking into a strong, controlled belt. All the while, Butterworth's deft fingers spin a yarn of their own, making poetry out of music. But poetry doesn't end with Rossetti or the artists' own musical reconceptualisation.

The duo give us Welsh poet Alun Lewis's Postscript: For Gweno before Fraser goes on to croon "One Hand, One Heart" in one final tribute to the late Sondheim. The album becomes an exquisite, aesthetic collection of art, and marks a specific, unique style for the singer and the pianist.

"Please don't be offended if I talk to you awhile" Fraser sings in the opening song - a rendition of Jerome Kern's "Look for the Silver Lining" - and ends with the lyric "Even death won't part us now" from West Side Story. In-between, a beautiful adventure unfolds through jazz.

You can listen to Lights Around the Shore everywhere you stream music. Here's a link to it on Spotify.

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