CLIFFTOWN, the new album by Essex-based musician MG Boulter, is his latest exploration of the lives, loves and fears of working people. Shot through with his instantly recognisable, conversational and casually profound lyrical approach, it's combined with a cinematic and ethereal musical style.

Boulter’s music has created a loyal following over the years, both as frontman for Essex legends the Lucky Strikes or as a solo artist. He’s been described as a “weapons-grade songwriter” and the list of his collaborators reads like a who’s who of intelligent music.

He’s made significant contributions to two CDs released by the General Federation of Trade Unions, Voice and Vision and Working River: Songs and Music of the Thames, with a cover of the Luddite anthem General Ludd and the self-penned Goldspring, about a press-ganged Essex man who escaped during the Nore Mutiny of 1797.

On Boulter’s latest album, he continues exploring local characters, histories and stories of his home town of Southend. He sings as beautifully as ever about life in seaside suburbia, with a gentle Essex twang to  his voice.

Clifftown, he says, is a journal: “I write about what I know and I grew up in Southend, so, as a result, Clifftown is about a sense of place, but it could be any place.”

His characters are jaded night workers, shelf stackers, struggling actors, a girl crying on a train or slot-machine gamblers under neon lights, who all inhabit their own little worlds. “These are normally forgotten people who are just getting on with what they’ve got,” he says.

“It may not be glamorous, but they are recognisable all over this country and they have a right to be heard and even celebrated as much as anybody else.

“They all have stories to tell, even though life hasn’t given them much to work with and even less life chances.

“Ultimately, my generation do not have the security that thrived after the war of social housing, permanent employment or a viable pension to live on in retirement, like our parents.

“We are being told that we will be working forever and that creates its own dynamic. People are asking why should I strive harder if this is all there is. We are asking ourselves, is it better to be busy or [stand] still if the outcomes are the same.”

But his isn’t a doom-laden, gloomy musical message — there is also hope and redemption. As Boulter asks on the track The Slow Decline: “Can it be every day you can start anew?”

He takes people watching to artistic levels that celebrate the majesty of the mundane.

“I write about what is in front of me and it can be ordinary or extraordinary, depending on your point of view,” he says.

Boulter’s prolific output cuts across all genres and he has arguably created one all of his own, reflecting the enormous breadth of influences that have inspired him. This latest offering should rank him as one of this country’s finest singer-songwriters.

Clifftown is released by Hudson Records on April 23. MG Boulter produces a podcast, also called Clifftown, which explores the history and lives of working people in Essex.