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Beth Jeans Houghton – Hot Toast Vol. 1 – EP review

Beth Jeans Houghton: Hot Toast Vol. 1 (Static Caravan)

Hot Toast Vol. 1 is the latest release from Beth Jeans Houghton, the Newcastle folk/country singer. Following the success of so many female artists in the past couple of years, Static Caravan will be hoping that Houghton can transfer the success of the female-soul revival with a female-folk/country revival.

The five track EP is produced by Mike Lindsay of Tunng, for whom Beth Jeans Houghton has provided support in the past. The influence is discernible in places, with a playful folk vibe accompanying the dark fantasy throughout the album. ‘Cruel Francis’, for example, matches a jaunty backing to the (presumably) somewhat fantastical explanation by Houghton that it is about:

“… my old mandolin player, Frank Conway. We used to take ballet classes together in our local church but he ditched me to make sweet love to his sitar, so I burned down his house.”

A similarly upbeat feel accompanies ‘Hot Toast’, which could easily be a remake of a novelty track from the 40s. But ironically, it is away from the upbeat tracks where Beth Jeans Houghton’s voice best resides. The short ‘Anne Cramb’ is understated yet powerful, whilst that vocal change of tone on ‘Lilyputt’ is affecting and strips away the silliness of the verse. “Oh my love, I’m not done with you yet, oh no.”

The silliness comes with Beth Jeans Houghton’s style though, describing, for example, ‘Lilyputt’ as about “running away from a guy with really big hair and having to take my shoes off to go faster.” It will be interesting to see how Ben Hillier, the production mastermind behind Elbow’s Cast Of Thousands, Doves’s Some Cities and Blur’s Think Tank, will handle it on her forthcoming album. Apparently he has already been sucked in:

“He looks like Mr. Bean, rides a bike, and helps me pass on love notes to cute guys in cafe’s.”

The Hot Toast Vol. 1 EP features Beth Jeans Houghton’s band, The Hooves of Destiny. Hot Toast Vol. 1 is out now on Static Caravan records.

This is her MySpace.