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Robb Johnson
Your Affectionate Son
Irregular Records
★★★★★
Minimum Wages
Irregular Records
★★★★★
CONTINUING his reputation as one of Britain’s foremost political songwriters Robb Johnson has recently released two albums with themes relevant to today’s world.
The first of these, Your Affectionate Son, was commissioned by Hartlepool Folk Festival in 2019 and is based on the letters of a local resident, Private George Gower, during World War I.
Writing home to his parents who kept a grocery shop the letters start with a cheerful optimistic note as he talks about his training in Rugely Camp. He still finds time to worry about the price of eggs back home. But it is what he does not tell his parents that provides the real backtrack to his story.
In the later tracks the stark reality of war is revealed and the album takes on a darker tone with Shellholia where George’s hopes are dashed in a gas attack which was to cause his death 20 years later.
George never did follow into the family business and the final track A Nation of Shopkeepers gives the initial opening theme some contemporary relevance today.
Accompanied by Jennifer Carr on piano this album is a poignant reflection on one man’s experience in “the war to end all wars.”
The second album Minimum Wages is described as Johnson’s most folkish album yet and while the acoustic guitar-based songs do have a more traditional sound than previous albums, they also clearly reflect the political protest strand of folk music.
The title track pays tribute to low-paid care workers struggling through the pandemic and Great Aunt Gladys gives homage to his socialist older relative.
The true state of the nation however is reflected in Last Night at the Proms with Jerusalem being up for sale and William Blake on welfare, and This is Our History with it's reference to Orgreave and the BBC’s lies.
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In a year where the architect of an illegal war is given a knighthood and Sir Keir Starmer takes the Labour Party further down the path of Nato militarism and neoliberalism these two albums might be just the New Year tonic you need.
Robb Johnson will play at Ordinary Giants, Chats Palace, Hackney on January 28 and 29 2022.
