Tommy Ashby – Lamplighter
Folk | Indie Folk
80%
tommy ashby
Top Ten EPs of 2022
Time now for what always proves to be our most hotly contested list each year. EPs are such an important creative tool for new artists especially, and there’s such a wealth of them out there that we barely scratch the surface of them with the few that fit in our Spotlight! series. In a way this feels like the most important list of the season as it gives us chance to shine a light on releases that we don’t otherwise get the opportunity to talk about. Great things often come in small packages, and here are our picks for the EPs that left the biggest impressions in 2022. Continue reading
Top Tracks: Tommy Ashby – Not That Far To Go
Anyone prone to overthinking, that often finds themselves gripped by worries in the small hours, will have been told at many different points over the years “don’t sweat the small stuff”. Don’t let trivial things weigh on your mind when they’re nothing more than fleeting moments in time. The trouble is, fleeting moments are all we have. Life is nothing but a constant stream of the small stuff, tiny mosaic pieces of our time spent on this Earth. With his new single ‘Not That Far To Go’, Scottish singer/songwriter Tommy Ashby offers a fresh perspective on those fleeting fragments that occupy our thoughts. Against a serene haze akin to a misty morning, with a driving rhythm and lush comforting melodies, the track implores you to dedicate as much of your attention to the ephemeral flashes of joy that make life worth living as you do those anxious thoughts that dwell on things that can’t be changed. The small stuff is all we have, so we owe it to ourselves to experience all aspects of it. Being lost and afraid is part of being human, allow yourself to feel it, just don’t let it get in the way of the bigger picture.
Top Tracks: Tommy Ashby – Passing Through
Sometimes it can be very difficult to review a track and articulate your thoughts. This is one of those occasions, for the simple reason that everything comes together so perfectly on ‘Passing Through’ that it becomes impossible to pick out particular reasons for loving it. I could go on about the way it builds from warm emotive folk into straight anthemic Americana, or the way it instills both a sense of wanderlust and a need to cling on to a love that’s fading, or the way the light and airy vocals dance atop the gorgeous instrumental atmosphere. With all of these statements however I’d feel like I was still doing the song a disservice, and missing out some other element that makes it great. Scottish singer/songwriter Tommy Ashby has nailed it with this track, plain and simple. See you in the ‘best of the year’ lists.
Belwood Music 