The various contributors at WSS give you a taste of 2013 music by Singer-Songwriters worldwide. The list is edited by Mateo James and is also available as a Best of 2013 YouTube Playlist compiled by WSS (Singer Songwriters Worldwide) for 1 In Music or at Youtube Playlist.
- Every single night, Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple takes the time to mould her songs from her inner complex riches and it echoes in the precise instrumentation, the sleek lyricism and the integrity of the delivery. Honest and witty introspection triumphs. Tiki - I Ride at Dawn, Ben Harper / Charlie Musselwhite
Ben Harper constantly challenges the boundaries of his musical knowledge exploring various types of fusion mainly around folk, rock and blues. Many seem to think that his teaming up with Charlie Musselwhite was therefore inevitable. They meet to deliver his 2013 studio album Get Up. It would be pure bliss if it did not have so much pure fusion 😉 Harper pens all the songs, sometimes with a co-writer. Tiki - The Dress / The Place / The Moon / The whole EP, Marina Florance
Shh… listen… Rose
- Mut’Esukudu, Richard Bona
A precious feeling generated by a soft voice, sensual instrumentation and clever fusions from the evocative album Bonafide by Richard Bona where jazz meets Latin in a soft Sawa (Cameroon’s littoral region)-crafty artistry. Tiki (a choice of Tiki and Chantal Epee) - Eska, Gatekeeper
The title track of her EP reveals a voice to be reckoned with and folk music with a beautiful personal accent. Tiki - You Know, Laura Marling
The still surprising abrupt ending has in no way deterred from the pleasure of listening to this witty track. For WSS, this is the highlight (for lack of a better word) of Marling’s album “Once An Eagle” although there are some real gems in there and some winking accolades e.g. to the likes of Dylan’s It Ain’t me (babe) in Master Hunter (and did you perceive the American-sounding singing accent that might, for some WSS staff, decided on the ill fate of that track on this list… just saying). Tiki - Chopping Wood, Jo Bywater
This artist does not cease to surprise and excite the musical palates at WSS. She’s a mixture of integrity, philosophical wit, and guitar craft. Bluesy Folk yes but with the lasting after-taste of other influences cleverly added in and sometimes taking over. Chopping wood is quite the example of such work. Tiki
- You’ve Got The Trees, Alex Highton
A definite favourite on Highton’s “Woodditton Wives Club” album although the full album is a gem. “world class” says Tim Robinson of BBC6Music. We agree. WSS
- Elderflower Fall, Pitch Feather
Pitch Feather are wife and husband Alberta Leong and Chuan, writers of all music and lyrics on their album Mountain and Tides. Alberta showcases an amazing vocal flexibility that can easily display Celtic vibrato like in Elderflower Fall or Painter’s Symphony, elegant assurance in alternative rocking pitches in Wish I could. It is difficult to believe that the couple hail from and live in Singapore and not somewhere in the U.S. especially when you hear Lavender Girl. A most satisfying album (aesthetically as well as in delivery) with a variety and completeness in the sounds appropriately complementing the album theme that explores “the struggles and hardships on the journey of every free spirit pursuing his/her dreams”. The album was self-released on the 28 October 2013. Tiki
- Daredevil, Race To The Sea
Peace… with rhythm. Breathe out… Rose
- Invisible Empire, KT Tunstall
How on earth could we miss this one?! We love what KT does in her 2013 ‘quiet’ release Invisible Empire / Crescent Moon. We love that modernly folked up sound and the way her voice glides over it so melodically and beautifully. - Fire, Steve Mason
Wow! Meaningful… in fact politically loaded, deceitfully mellow… in fact craftily so, contemporarily produced… beat, special effects and all. Yes! From the album Monkey Minds In The Devil’s Time (loaded indeed) Mateo - It’s Not Enough, Dustin Kensrue
Kensrue, the frontman of the critically acclaimed alternative rock band Thrice, releases his first full length solo album The Water & The Blood where his Bible-inspired lyric-craft transpires, and combined with his rock vocals and clever instrumentation and production, offer powerful tracks, not just in this track but throughout his album. Mateo - Immunity, Jon Hopkins
The title track of Jon Hopkins’s fourth studio album showcases an album that reconciles you with the basic elements and your very self… if you only take the time to listen. Mateo - For the dead man, Lucy Ward
Derby artist Lucy Ward pens this protest song managing to beautifully capture anger in clean wit and showing maturity. The song is from her album Single Flame. Tiki - Different Days OR Stockholm (let me go home), Jason Isbell
If you think of either tracks “Different Days” OR “Stockholm” as lovely tracks extracted from a lovely album with lovely vocals and harmonies, you’ve barely scratched its surface. This is understated but fine and clever lyricism set on a deceptively safe, easy-listening country music background. Worth hearing many a time… ignoring the odd f.. word. WSS - Holes, Passenger
Holes follows the success of 2012 Let Her Go. Michael David Rosenberg does it again with the same 2012 album. If some of us were reminded of the lyrics of Gainsbourg ‘des p’tits trous’ (little holes), we soon all agreed that Passenger spoke of the Holes in our lives with the depth of a new perspective. Mateo - When I Can See the Valley, Leyla McCalla
One of the tracks from McCalla’s album Vari-Colored Songs (released on Dixiefrog) showcases the classically trained musician setting Langston Hughes’ poems to banjo and guitar-based music with rythms reminiscent of her multiple influences (Creole, Haiti…), matching both artists’ minimalist lyricism and harmonising her traditional cadence with Hughes’ jazz poetry, symbol of the 1920s’ Harlem Renaissance. Tiki - Everytime, Bobby McFerrin
Veteran vocalist virtuoso (VVV) and music perfectionist Bobby McFerrin releases spirityouall, an album about faith from the perspective of a man who seems to be constantly looking to comprehend the musical universe and yet is grateful for what he has been given. The chosen track, Everytime, features the vocals of Esperanza Spalding. Mateo - Chains, Torres
Torres was always going to make it in this list. Why? Because Alanis Morrissette meets Fiona Apple but brings her own colour to the witty female musician songwriter rainbow in delivery, instrumentation, in the individual personality of her craft has every high place in the heart of WSS. All that was left was to figure out a track that outshines all others. That was damn hard. We loved Honey, then we savoured Winter’s over but then agreed on Chains, so much we were all hypnotised by the track. It seems this year, some tracks are going to just have abrupt endings… well, we can live with that. Mateo - Overgrown- James Blake
Ethereal goodness! It is unreal what this music is doing to me! Mateo - Sending the message, Little Sparrow
Impeccable vocals delivering great lyrics on a beautiful musical piece, not just in the song, but throughout the release. We love you too Little Sparrow. Tiki - Reconsider Me, Dayna Kurtz
This piano-based ballad is lifted by its lyrics and some gospel-inspired organ towards the end. Kurtz adds some amazing vocals on this track from Secret Canon, Vol. 2, a collection of researched uncovered blues and R&B gems from the 1940’s – 1960’s and her own originals confirming her songwriting craft. Her work has just paid off. Tiki - Back To The River, Lily and Madeleine
Two sisters, simple instrumentation and the resounding echoes of beautiful and delicate harmonies. Back to the river is from their EP released in Jan 2013 while an LP followed in October of the same year. This track speaks my kind of music. Tiki
- Home, Gabrielle Aplin
A little breath envelops the lovely vocals of Aplin when she sings on her 2013 album “English Rain” but it so works with this track uncovering the emotional fragility that matches the melody and lyrics and highlighting the superb way that Aplin meets the track’s vocal challenge. Tiki - Outra Vez, Sadao Watanabe
Doesn’t it feel like experience brings a cleverer way of expressing and helping the listeners rediscover known emotions when they listen to Japanese legend Sadao Watanabe interweaving Jazz and Bossa Nova as if they always naturally belonged together… Tiki - Mom and Dad’s Waltz, Patty Griffin
Moving track or soapily predictable. Whether the weak heart or the blase mind speaks or fight it, they’ve both been taken by a great song and delivery. This song best marries Griffin’s vocals. Extracted from the album “American Kid”. Mateo - Never Seen Such Good Things, Devendra Banhart
Banhart seems to mix Folk, Alternative, Pop, his own unique weirdness. It works. Also featured in this 8th studio album “Mala” are his ‘homage’ to some of his influences, e.g. the Latin-infused and potentially addictive “Mi Negrita” accompanied by his soft voice possibly reminds us of the great Caetano Veloso. Mateo - Old Dreams, Hayden
Canadian singer-songwriter serves us variety and beauty on his release “Us Alone”. It is with the appropriately and exquisitely unearthly “Old Dreams” that I fell in love. Mateo - No meu pais, Dom La Nena
The cellist and singer-songwriter pens a delicate song with accents of her adopted musical country France, to give us a taste of the memories of her country of origin, Brazil. Tiki - Lonely Street, Mason Jennings
Not moving your head to the rhythm or tapping your feet to the beat of the track yet? You’ve not heard it, have you? While you’re at it, pray, pay attention to those lyrics. Rose - Poye 2 – Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba
Blues meets West African Ethno-Folk on Poye2, the only track in the album ‘Jama Ko’ that truly transcends West Africa into an audacious but successful fusion. This is the main reason for the choice of this track although the tracks ‘Jama Ko’, ‘Mali Koori’, ‘Djadje’ and ‘Moustafa’ were in contention in the WSS e-office. Mateo - Old man / Cinnamon girl, Neil Young
Neil Young releases a live album live at the Cellar Door. It feels like meeting an old friend and having an intimate conversation about the sweet past… with the added maturity reflected in the simple acoustic set. Mateo - Doni Doni – Vieux Farka Touré
Love, love this instrumental showcasing Touré’s craft in the manipulation of the African harp which is so central in the art of story telling in West Africa ethno-folk. With the other tracks of the album, it take us a little journey through Vieux Farka Touré’s country as per the album’s French title, Mon Pays. Note that the last song Ay Bakoy was another strong contendent, amazing amazing track, blues-infused, almost ballady, extremely efficient. Mateo
- Walk Us UPTOWN, Elvis Costello and the roots
… From the album Wise Up Ghost… How on earth can one so well mix funky and laid back-ness bringing a feel of the 70s to the 21st century. It is the belief in this office that nothing Elvis Costello does can go wrong. Period. WSS - Talk me down, Willy Mason
Mason’s various-genres- infused new wave folk album Carry On is full of good surprises and inspired variety and this pick only reveals one of the many musical aspects explored in this album. Mateo - Green Garden, Laura Mvula
It is your ears that are getting a little herb-moist with the feel that your feet should get… That is what this song can do… Mateo - I’d rather be high, David Bowie
The return of David Bowie after so long an absence from the studios refreshes the fans’ memory and engages newcomers onto Ziggy’s musical world. Mateo - Peacock (Que Shen), Sa Dingding
We could not quite wait for her third album and Sa Dingding takes again into her own world that combines the various far Eastern essences with elements of modern Electronica. WSS - There can be only one, Cass McCombs
A track from the album Big Wheel And Others, a little infectiously memorable, a little folky, a little bluesy, a little for the roads that Cass’s nomadic life takes him (and us) on. Mateo - Something ’bout a boat, Jimmy Buffett
A simple song that gets us all on board Buffett’s release Songs From St. Somewhere, something about sea, sun, streets and more. Mateo - No elephants, Lisa Germano
Put some hushed vocals on tender piano and some eerie-ethereal violin and other unidentified sounds. You get the title track of Germano’s 2013 release… Mateo - Hymn to the odin, Julian Cope
We love the spoken word, the chorus’ melody, the lyrics and Julian Cope. Sometimes that is all it takes. However, we don’t know if the song could not get outta our heads because it is that addictive or if it is because it lasts 7 minutes 10 seconds. WSS - Bonfire heart, James Blunt
We were surprised to hear of James Blunt’s single since I read somewhere that he was leaving the music industry. Rumours aside, this is not a bad comeback. Mateo - Future Strings, Catrin Finch
Catrin Finch teams up with Seckou Keita on Clychau Dibon to give us Future Strings among other tracks fusing Celtic and West African strings. Mateo - Little French Song, Carla Bruni
Not from her most exciting album release, but Carla Bruni seems to be having fun and the playfulness of Little French Song might just make up for the attempt to show some pride in the undeniable richness of the Francophone singer-songwriters legacy. Mateo - The real thing, Roxanne de Bastion
The nomad lady takes us on a trip to her version of the real thing, the title track of her 2013 release. Mateo
- Dust, Sarah de Warren
Wow… Rose
- Kouma OR Ka Moun Kè, Rokia Traoré
from the album Beautiful Africa - New, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney has continually been proving to the John Lennon-base at WSS and beyond that his unending talent goes truly beyond the collaborations with the afore-mentioned genius. Good on him. Mateo - Nyuwe, Etienne Mbappe
From his release Pater Noster, Etienne Mbappe sets a definitely appropriate dark and low atmosphere for his track Nyuwe. Mateo
Tiki’s 2013 debut album “Out Of The Black” is included on this list but is not ranked since she is part of the team and ranking is done by the whole main team with any willing guest writers.
- Escape, Tiki Black
The most played song on a “pretty beautiful first album”. Chantal Epee
Ones to watch in 2014