After his show at Chapel Arts, Bath became the latest in the stream of cancellations there I’d expected to miss the Our Man In The Field tour altogether. Having read my Americana UK colleague Graeme Tait’s lovely review (find it here), added to the disappointment. So, finding myself in a stables in the Wiltshire town of Cricklade was an unexpected bonus.
This was my 4th time seeing Alex Elis live, but my first with a full band. Previous gigs have been himself and Henry Senior on Pedal Steel and Dobro. This time a Cello, Bass and Drums joined them to create a fuller, and if possible, even more wonderful sound. Kicking off with the lead song from the excellent ‘Company of Strangers’ album, ‘Thin (I Use To Be Bullet Proof)’. This remains one of his best, and indeed the whole album stands up as one of my favourites, and a regular play, from the last few years.
The songs for his second album, due in November now, were recorded in Portland with Tucker Martine, a producer with credits that reads like a list of my favourite artists, Jayhawks, First Aid Kit, Beth Orton… Having been plugged into the “Portland Scene”, through tours with Jerry Jospeh and The Delines, this may seem like an inevitable tie up, but when you have the pick of the world to produce it must take something special to pique the likes of Martine’s interest. 
Some of the songs due to appear on the new album were played tonight and are indeed special. The total standout was ‘Go Easy’, something the band clearly know as they came on for the second set in “Go Easy” baseball shirts (I want one!). There is a new confidence in the writing of songs like ‘Go Easy’ and ‘Feel Good’ a tale of music business rip offs that he debuted on The Delines tour last year. Having said that songs from the first album like, ‘It Is What It Is’, Easy Going Smile, and ‘Swansong’ hold their own. Heard for the first time with a full band the older songs take on a new dimension, bigger and bolder. The second set was opened with a new song, performed solo by Alex, which may be called ‘Doing Alright’, which takes his writing in another direction, that bodes well for album number 3.
Support came from Becky Shell, a Bristol based player of intriguing violin loops and Bjorkish singing. I was lucky enough to get a few words with Alex between sets and found that he has some heavyweight interest from PRs and Agents in the US, which hopefully means that the success that is his due is just around the corner. I’ll look forward to watching him on Later chatting with Jools about his rise to greatness and say, “I talked to him once”, and be delighted that one of our best singer songwriters, and his fine band, are on their way.
The Company of Strangers is available on Bandcamp. I reviewed it here and can only say that 2 and a bit years have not dimmed it’s appeal.
