Water sign --- Chris Rea --- 1983 (Magnet)
The first time I heard this album was when a workmate brought a copy in on cassette tape (insert humourous reference to my old age and technology now deemed ancient here!), which is actually quite apt, as when the album was offered to Magnet they were so disinterested that they wouldn't cough up for the recording fee so that it could be made professionally, and instead Rea had to offer them the demo he made, which was overdubbed a little here and there. Ironically, it sold very well and of course in the fullness of time Chris Rea became a huge property, selling out large venues and earning platinum status for many of his albums.
You can actually hear the rawness on the album, and yes, in a lot of places it does sound like a demo, but to be honest that doesn't take away from it at all. In fact, it kind of endears you to the album. At a time when so many artistes were overdubbing to death, tripling vocals and using all sort of electronic wizardry to make what were often mediocre songs into hits, Rea's honest and earnest approach came as something of a breath of fresh air.
The quality of his songwriting, and the power of his voice is evident from the very beginning, when you hear opener “Nothing's happening by the sea”, a slow, lazy ballad, with sounds of waves and surf and seagulls conjuring up nothing less than an ideal relaxing day, looking out over the horizon and watching the waves come and go. Recalls echoes of Otis Redding's classic “Dock of the bay”. It's Rea's deep, soulful and passionate voice that really carries the album though: every song, you feel like he's singing just for you. The opening lines of “Nothing's happening...” set the scene, to a lovely, unhurried guitar track, laid over a deep, bassy keyboard harmony:
”Salty river falls asleep in the bay/ Always gets there, never early, never late.” There's also a really nice harmonica solo in the song, adding to the almost acoustic feel of the song and making you feel even more like closing your eyes and just letting yourself get lost in the melody. If you ever feel under pressure and need to tell yourself to relax, this is the song to do it to.
“Deep water” raises the tempo considerably, very much driven by the rhythm section: great bass line. Cool saxaphone solo too! Then we're into “Candles”, a very fragile, gentle beginning, which develops into a powerful little song, concerned with freedom and oppression, and on which we first hear Chris on the guitar. It's followed by “Love's strange ways”, a nice little ballad which again suits Rea's deep, rich voice, and “Texas” is another ballad. Curiously, the same title would appear on his album “The road to Hell”, but a totally different song.
Things get a bit funky then for “Let it loose”, the drum machines giving this song a touch of the discos, though it's still a great little song, with some nice guitar and some serious synth. It leads into “I can hear your heart beat”, which became one of Chris Rea's first major hit singles; with its boppy, danceable beat it became a favourite with clubbers, giving Rea a foot into a world he had perhaps not ventured into prior to this. Next up is “Midnight blue”, a slow song but not a ballad, --- about a guy buying a suit, would you believe? ---with some great slide guitar. “Hey you” is just a throwaway piece of fun, almost calypso in its rhythm, but the album ends on “Out of the darkness”, which is perhaps one of the better tracks on the album, boppy with a great bassline and nice keys, great sax too, certainly closes the album in style.
It's a vindication of Chris Rea's talent that an album recorded on so low a budget and with such lack of interest from a record label could still produce hit singles and provide him a springboard to a long and successful career. After “The road to Hell” in 1989 Chris Rea parted company with his record label, Magnet. Considering how dismissive they had been of him about this album, I'm surprised he stayed with them that long. I bet someone's sorry they hadn't faith in him.
TRACKLISTING
1. Nothng's happening by the sea
2. Deep water
3. Candles
4. Love's strange ways
5. Texas
6. Let it loose
7. I can hear your heart beat
8. Midnight blue
9. Hey you
10. Out of the darkness
Suggested further listening: “Wired to the moon”, “On the beach”, “The road to Hell” (but not “The road to Hell part 2”!), “Deltics”, “Dancing with strangers”, “King of the beach”, “Dancing down the stony road”