16.08.08 After over a year's break from performing live, plans are afoot to dust down the guitar and take to the stage once more, so watch this space (I just need to find the darn thing first)... 19.05.08 The debut album 'Songs for a Sunday' is now available to buy on digital and cd (with a possible vinyl release sometime in the future). The album represents a collection of ten acoustic ditties recorded over the past year or so (earlier tracks that didn't make the cut may receive their own separate release at some stage down the line). Here are some things some people have been saying about it: By Carla Washbourne · May 19, 2008 Will Cookson is a very difficult man to track down. His websites are sparse and beautiful, with no haphazardly gratuitous personal details. Even his record company acknowledge his existence in the most minimal of salutes. If it weren’t for the intricately decorated album that I quite clearly hold in my hand, he might be a wonderful figment of my imagination. Cookson is one of a long line of semi-pastoral musicians, spinning tales of forgotten toys, long neglected pass-times and the enviously untainted landscape. ‘Songs For A Sunday’ is not an immediately accessible album, though it is obviously crafted by a highly endearing word-smith. Softly spoken chansons like ‘Autumn Song’ seem wonderfully open and rambling, but hold the explicit memory of the complex experiments which went in to their formation. The freely running acoustic verse and semi-whispered vocal may not be to the tastes of all, but the nouveau-folk of it all flows in a vein long-opened by the likes of visionaries such as Devendra Banhart. You may have little interest in the technicalities of the acoustic guitar. We take for granted the fact that because something ‘has’ been played, it must be easily possible to recreate, but these songs create the peculiar feeling of the one off. The finger-picking and inclusion of harmonics so flowered that it is difficult to believe that they form a path which could ever be followed again. I can only draw one comparison to the music that Will Cookson produces, a wonderful but little known North East musician and poet Nev Clay, an observer of people and talented musician in equal measure - the mastery of the instrument and sheer vocal emotion are otherwise unparalleled in my experience. The only downside to ‘Songs For A Sunday’ is what I suffer to refer to as ’stodginess’. Whilst each track is a glory in its own right, an album laden with such discordant and lilting memories is naturally difficult to digest in one sitting. This album is bound to go unappreciated by the masses, but those who do cotton on to this peculiar blend will be all the better for it - perhaps it is knowledge of this fact that makes every track seem so precious and personal. by Jon Severs ‘Songs For A Sunday’ would happily sit in James Taylor’s cannon. Not only that, it would be considered some of his best work. Will Cookson doesn’t listen to James Taylor. Which, considering the way his soft voice conversationally meanders across intricate acoustic guitar work, is surprising. Cookson’s debut album, ‘Songs For A Sunday’, would happily sit in Taylor’s cannon. Not only that, it would be considered some of his best work. Though the market is flooded with sensitive men with a guitar at the moment, Cookson does offer something different. Check out his website and you sense an acerbic wit about the man that occasionally surfaces in the lyrics to the ten carefully woven tracks on the album. In addition, rather than being locked down in a studio with a high-profile producer and a massive marketing budget waiting to be tapped into, Cookson recorded his album in his lounge and produced it himself. He likes to keep things simple, he says, and it works to his advantage. But he himself is not that simple. He has a degree in archaeology has spent the last six years script reading for film companies and is now training to be a landscape architect. He is also not afraid to speak his mind. Asked whether he would prefer a Brit Award or a Mercury Music Prize he replied: “If you're asking if i would prefer to be a Mark Ronson type or someone noted for their songwriting abilities, I think I would have to go for the Mercury Prize. Also, I have about as much chance of winning a Brit Award as Boyzone have of winning the Mercury award.” Quite. It is refreshing to hear someone speak so candidly, be unafraid to publicise an archaeology degree (not quite as exotic as whinging warbler James Blunt’s army career) and willingly take the mickey out of himself. It is a brazen disregard for the rules of pop stardom that shines through the album. Songs rise and fall in whispered breaths and you find yourself enchanted. The reference to Sunday in the album title is a telling one. This is music to relax to, to sit quietly with a bottle of beer, close your eyes and really appreciate. The Will Cookson live experience is similar. “I like to keep things as simple and pure as possible,” he explains. “So its just me, myself and my guitar. I’m not averse to covers, but I am wary of them. I recently covered an old French song called Parlez-moi D'amour, but it was let down by my French singing voice, which is far from convincing.” So, if you like your music laid back, full of early Paul Simon-esque guitar work and lullaby melodies, Cookson is a must. Likewise, if you like your artists to have a sense of humour they are unafraid to use, then he will not let you down. This album may not launch him into the big league, but I get the impression he really doesn’t care either way. He is happy doing what he loves. It just so happens we love it too. by Emma Booth Sunday - there's something so simple about the seventh day. En mass,
it's about all the little things: lie-ins, reading the papers, lawn
mowing, roast dinners, snoozing in front of the TV - the calm before
the Monday storm. And it's exactly these gentle, unobtrusive moments
folk singer/songwriter Will Cookson has managed to bottle in his debut
album. Each song feels like a lullaby. (The most conventional being Bedtime Charm - a soothing song about a toddler's night, with a "mobile spinning from the ceiling", a "scary clothes heap" and monsters under the bed). In fact, Cookson refers to childhood memories in several songs. Ferris Wheel recalls a magical long-gone summer. Whereas, inConsolidation No. 2 (Magpie Pie) Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor are mentioned. Everything about Songs For A Sunday screams simplicity. The album sleeve is a rudimentary, almost child-like drawing; the lyrics beautiful and easy to understand; the music unassuming, with (predominantly) 'paint by number' major-chord folk melodies. There's no arrogance, only modest honesty. An acoustic guitar also adds to the album's organic nature. Only on occasional songs do additional instruments join in, such as a harmonica on Consolidation No. 1 and tingly bells - like magic - on Bedtime Charm. An accomplished guitarist and a dextrous fingerpicker, Cookson's almost sole use of an acoustic guitar makes Songs On A Sunday feel like a very private affair. The album is so intimate, it's as though Cookson's sitting on the end of your bed, lulling you to sleep. Cookson's voice is raspy, yet fragile and emotional, somewhere between Jack White's and Bob Dylan's. In fact, the later is an obvious influence: hell, isn't the music titan an inspiration to most? On Stormy Ol' Weather, Cookson even quotes "The times they are a-changing". However, Cookson actually sounds more like Nick Drake than Dylan. There's a similar emotion and magic as evoked by the crestfallen master. And, whereas Drake's music was often described as autumnal, Cookson's can be characterised as Sunday-istic - though on the whole Cookson's lyrics are far more optimistic. Cookson's debut won't be to every folk enthusiast's taste. Its simplicity might be deemed drab, its songs merging into one. But if you want to escape stress, the city and/or life, make yourself a cup of tea and let Cookson's beautifully evoked peaceful English countryside scenes wash over you. Simple and effortless, Songs For A Sunday is a treasure. by Matt Merritt 29 year old Will Cookson, a well known face on London’s folk circuit is already making a name for himself ahead of the release of his debut album. Poster girl for new folk Laura Marling has called him “Wonderful” and Simon Raymonde who heads Bell Union described his work as “pure excellence, Will Cookson looks set to establish himself as one of the Brit Folk scene’s finest young talents”. So, he certainly has the respect of his peers. What we have here is a collection of soft, subtle folk, essentially ten very beautiful lullabies to soothe the most tense among us to an impressively relaxed state. Cookson’s vocals, soft and warm, seem to float above the acoustic guitar he strums and picks at, most notably on the almost haunting ‘Bedtime Charm’, a song that deserves a place on anyone’s iPod. Especially if, like me, you have a late night wind down playlist. Hey, what a beautifully cool way to start a brand new day; 9.00am and 'Songs For A Sunday' sat forlornly on my door mat - I needed something to fill me up and make me feel better than I did - enter Will Cookson and his wonderfully invigorating acoustic songs! Cookson keeps things very chilled here and he creates a beautifully warm and engaging vibe that like of which you don't hear very often nowadays. Cookson's 'unplugged' way is rewarding and massively compelling; it's difficult to switch the player off now and I find myself pressing 'play' again and again. Each time I listen, I hear something new, something that I missed the last time around; that something might just be a word or a subtle key change or the odd note here and there. Just because this is 'stripped back' it doesn't mean you can't get inside of the thing and find the 'truth' behind the simplicity!! Cookson has a certain way about him and he lets his songs wrap around you and make you feel warm and protected. 'Songs For A Sunday' by Will Cookson is an endearing and enriching work that's pretty much as good as it gets; Cookson's simplistic acoustic way is charming and gentle; Cookson knows what he's doing and he certainly makes it all work for him. Where many of Cookson's contemporaries would fill the voids with sound and cram the thing full of double-tracked this and multi-dubbed that, Cookson lets the silence be as loud as the instruments - he knows the value of 'nothing' and uses it sublimely. 'Songs For A Sunday' by Will Cookson is a rare beauty, an extremely well crafted yet lazy sounding album of fine songs, each one given the sparse Will Cookson treatment and every one the better for Cookson's low-key approach - a brilliant album, a stunning work of simplistic acoustic music that's equal to anything currently out there. |