Young Pilgrim

Charley Simpson’s music fluctuations

Albeit Young Pilgrim is Charley Simpson’s debut solo album, many of us have known this man for quite a while now. He is one of those curious performers who can’t stay at one place and do everything to keep their music search going. Charley came to big music out of nowhere when he was seventeen years only and picked a lucky ticket out of fate’s hand to become a member of a very popular band called Busted that raised a stir when the new millennium came. Then came a moment when Charley realized that Busted with their primitive music and silly lyrics would spoil his talent, and left the band sentencing it to dissolve soon. The following stage in Simpson’s career was forming a rock ensemble called Fightstar, which looked like an effort to erase any connection between him and pop-music in general, as well as Busted in particular. With his new formation, Charley embarked on very productive activity, releasing five albums, and then… he announced an unexpected hiatus. What Charley did not like in Fightstar is hard to say yet, but his solo career features him taking interest in entirely different kind of music.

American music made in Britain

Young Pilgrim is Charley Simpson’s quite unanticipated move towards American folk music with all the consequences imaginable. Electric guitar that built up the basis for Fightstar are not put aside until further notice and replaced with acoustic ones. No more galloping and hell-raising drum kit either. Instead comes the whole assortment of folk attributes, starting with banjo and harmonica and ending with clapping. How come an average British guy, what Charley Simpson is in many respects, would fall for North American culture? The titles of the tracks here emanate a strong aroma of country life, check out Riverbank, Sundown, Farmer And His Gun. And the music proves the same, although there are many songs here that beg for the ‘pop’ prefix for their melodies and sentimentality, like Hold On, or I Need A Friend Tonight. Still, this is not the same self-imposing and shouting pop stuff that streamed thick out of Busted. Besides, slightly harsh voice and deliberately ignorant intonations by Charley Simpson provide the album with the required amount of country-rock feel. To be frank, the singers goes too far double-tracking his vocals. This is a good, but delicate method that produces the desired effect not always and not everywhere. On the whole, for a man who works with the genre for the first time, this album is a very nice effort.

Album came in the right time

You can not call Young Pilgrim an original record, no matter how many times you listen to it, or in what order you try the tracks. Almost everything here is pretty predictable, although made in accordance with the genre’s patterns. Even the cover features a piece of country landscape, an encouraged musician and an acoustic guitar. The tunes are pleasant, yet not standout; the lyrics are well put, yet not profound; and the vocals are professional, yet not very catching, and you can say the same about every aspect of Charley Simpson’s work. However, the album has the right to be accepted and listened to. Simpson just picked the right time to offer the record. Now is the time when the interest to folk-music awakens after a long and deep sleep. There are more and more listeners who find their pleasure in the cleanness of acoustic guitar, simplicity of a line, and atmosphere of relaxation. Could be Charley Simpson missed just the same. One can be right to believe his music pilgrimage is not over yet, and he is going to offer something else next time.