Jason McNiff ★★★★
Every thing’s A Song
TOMBOLA. CD/DL/LP
Ninth studio LP from UK’s premier folk guitar picker.
Over eight previous albums released steadily since the turn of the millennium, Bradford-born Jason McNiff has proven himself to be one of the UK’s greatest finger-picking talents, up there with his one-time mentor Bert Jansch. Recorded in a tiny studio in his adopted south coast home, Everything’s A Song – not so much an LP title as McNiff’s personal creed – is his best offering so far. Having spent much of the last year touring a Leonard Cohen homage night with Gibraltarian poet Gabriel Moreno (who also co-wrote the closing title track), it’s not surprising this album carries echoes of the great Canadian. Occasionally McNiff branches away from acoustic to Mark Knopfler-esque electric guitar, backed by gently brushed drums and upright bass, but the stars here are the optimism of his lyrics and especially his finger-playing which, while always a marvel, shines like never before.