Artist: South - From Here On In (2000)
Track: “Paint The Silence”

South’s From Here On In is one of those deals where, if it had been cut in half one way or the other, it’d still be remembered today as a top album. For two reasons. South were the first traditional rock band that James Lavelle, Mo’ Wax label boss, signed to his imprint. As such, the album suffers from a bit of an identity crisis. The U.K. band gets pulled away from their comfort zone on some tracks, producing bland electronic-y tracks with a big beat. This is clearly the influence of Lavelle and that Mo’ Wax sound (ok, not a definable sound as much as a general idea. Secondly, there are just too many tracks and some of them are too long.

That said, South managed to put some fantastic songs on From Here On In that make it worth having. Lead singer Joel Cadbury has a smokey, raspy voice, always sounding fresh off a cigarette and it’s a sound that works, lifting some of the tunes from decent to good or good to great.

The obvious choice for a track to post is “Paint The Silence.” Acoustic guitar starts the song (come to think of it, they most only use acoustic guitar) then the bass and Cadbury’s vocals: “How can you say your life is empty?” Then the skipping, crash-cymbal filled drums and some piano. And then strings! Pretty much all the ingredients, on paper, for a successful British rock tune from the era before, say, The Libertines or The Arctic Monkey’s took over. It’s a helluva tune, though. Catchy enough, pulls the right heart strings. It actually ends with a bit of electric guitar which leads into that original bassline, but that doesn’t matter. I’m trying to remember how I acquired the album. I first heard it via the NME and had to get it, which I did either as an import at my local record store or else someone I knew must’ve been in London and I asked them for a present. Either way, this track still pops into my head frequently even without listening to it.

Other top tracks: “Keep Close” has a bit of a British/Southern twang to it which they do well. The title track is a breezy number with female backing vocals, but it works. “By The Time You Catch Your Heart” sounds like it was ripped from The Verve. It actually feels un-finished and raw. Cadbury hits some flat notes and the combination acoustic guitar, strings, electric bass makes you want the drums to come in. But they don’t. And it’s done to great effect.

As mentioned earlier, there’s a bit of an identity crisis in the sound and the album is probably too long. We don’t really need three “Broken Head” tracks, which are instrumental, probably written and produced by Lavelle himself. Nor do we need multiple “Reprises” throughout. Some of the more South-ish tracks are a bit boring and some go on too long. Only occasionally does the South/Broken Beat sound comes together like on “All In For Nothing.”

If I’m not mistaken, Lavelle let the group go from Mo’ Wax after this album and they went on to make non-threatening, acoustic rock like they should have been doing all along. But like I said, cut out the extracurriculars and Lavelle’s over-ambition, and you have a darn fine album.

Tracklist:

01. Broken Head I
02. Paint the Silence
03. Keep Close
04. I Know What You’re Like
05. All in for Nothing (Reprise)
06. Here on In
07. Run on Time
08. Broken Head II
09. Sight of Me
10. By the Time You Catch Your Heart
11. Live Between the Lines (Back Again)
12. Recovered Now
13. Southern Climbs
14. By the Time You Catch Your Heart (Reprise)
15. All in for Nothing
16. Broken Head III