Both Ben
and Joshua are involved in this album, either in a co-producing, writing or playing
role, with another very familiar name in ace guitarist Will Kimbrough being one
to jump out on the pre-release blurb. We also learn that Cumberland Island is
located off the coast of Georgia (USA not the Caucuses) and a place dear to the
heart of Nielson. The album gets a major lift in Europe via a release on Proper
Records and there is likely to be considerable interest this side of pond on
the back of the artists associated with Neilson. The Americana community is a
ready-made potential audience for this record, especially those who find solace
in the rugged deep tones of a singer-songwriter wearing canyons of feeling in
their vocal style.
One thing
that Neilson never loses sight of is the listener’s quest to hook up onto some
chorus appeal. As much as some of us enjoy burying deep into subliminal
messages and intrinsic song writing, there can be as much pleasure derived from
just sitting back and letting dulcet sound waves drift around. In these
moments, the presence of an appealing chorus cannot be under estimated.
Two tracks
that fall into this category during the early plays are ‘If The Sun Comes Up Tomorrow’ and ‘That Was Then’. As far as the general vibes are concerned, it will
not take long to make the decision to invest a greater amount of listening, but
a word of warning is that dissecting this record to the degree that it deserves
is no quick fix. So hang in there, and ripe hanging fruit will lower itself
into your grasp.
A further
delve into the collaborative song writing credits reveals a deeper involvement for
Ben and Joshua alongside contributions from familiar names such as Matthew Perryman
Jones and Hannah Miller. The latter contributed to the rather impressive ‘Oh Black River’ and a very good
recording artist in her own right as exemplified in the excellent endorsement
given here for a 2015 self-titled album.
There is an
obvious Ben Glover stamp all over this album, or could it be a reciprocation of
a Neilson Hubbard stamp on Ben’s records. Likely, it is an immense deep mutual
association, which permeates right through their creative souls.
Each of the
eleven tracks has a life of their own and the most generous praise afforded is
that any review is purely a gateway to experiencing the subtleties of celebrated
singer-songwriter roots music. Any lingering doubts around somebody better
known behind the scenes crossing the divide
profusely extinguish within the vaults of this album. Cinematic and
pensive reflection are two starting points in drafting the listening appeal to Neilson
Hubbard’s CUMBERLAND ISLAND, the rest is for you to explore.