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Simon Jay Catling
It’s fair to say that Suffolk’s Tom Baxter has had an up and down experience with the music industry since he first made himself known with a self-titled EP back in 2004. The singer songwriter was signed to Sony in time for the release of his debut album Feather and Stone, only to be dropped rather unceremoniously by the major last year. Brushing himself down, the 34 year old wrote a composed and varied second album, Skybound, that was released independently and this, his second single, is a perfect example of the diversity that Baxter manages to put in to what is a very open and closed genre.
Tell Her Today sets its stall out very early with a flamenco-esque bass line leading the way over a soft but rhythmic percussion. The key to this song is in its slow build up- the strings are brought in early but are never allowed to break rank until towards the end, instead simmering and allowing Baxter’s throaty drawl to take precedence, as he urges those of us too afraid to admit our love to a favoured someone to just grow a pair and let them know. Obviously, the man puts it in a far more sensual and poetic way than I just have, but as he pleads with us to ‘take the time, drop everything, tell her’, his sentiment remains the same; it’s conventional but tidily done and rather more, allows the whole thing; strings and all, to erupt in a frenzied outro reminiscent even of Muse’s own overblown latino epic City Of Delusion.
Baxter is no doubt fully aware that the male singer/songwriter market is rather over-saturated at the moment, but there is no denying but he is bringing something a little different to the party which no doubt will make Sony feel very foolish, and a couple of our more generic shuffling, songwriter friends give a little glance over their shoulder.
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