JAMES WILLIAM HINDLE

(BADMAN)

Yorkshire-bred troubadour James William Hindle is a talented newcomer with a flair for melancholy pop ballads. Although he follows in the footsteps of British folk-rockers like Nick Drake and Richard Thompson, it was his mournfully tender cover of John Denver’s "Whispering Jesse" (from the tribute album Take Me Back Home, compiled by Red House Painters frontman Mark Kozelek) that brought him to the attention of the San Francisco–based Badman label and producer Dylan Magierek.

Building on that promise for his affecting debut, Hindle relies on little more than a brushed snare (courtesy of American Music Club’s Tim Mooney) and a cello to accompany his relaxed acoustic strumming and delicate voice. Setting a plaintive tone with the opener, "Down & Able," he creates an atmosphere of intimacy and longing that bears no trace of gushy sentimentalism. Whereas the string-laden "Remember My Markings" speaks to his ever-present humility ("I need you to think that I’m better/Even though I’m not"), sparse tracks like "Brooklyn Song" and the beautifully orchestrated "Masks" command a confident, poetic lyricism. Tastefully embellished with pedal steel and fiddle, "The List of You & Me" drives a little harder. And on the disc’s cuddliest moment, ex-Tarnation singer Paula Frazer lends her exquisite harmonies to the alienated love anthem "Sparky Marcus." Still, Hindle can’t resist a good cover song when he hears it: his countrified rendition of Glen Campbell’s "Less of Me" and a personal take on the Bee Gees’ "I Started a Joke" are revelatory.

Issue Date: November 15 - 22, 2001

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