The last of the rundown of my most enjoyable ten albums released in 2024, and most likely the one I’d put top of the list if I was being asked.
Chorus of Doubt – Broken Chanter
Billy Bragg. There’s not many out there as good as him when it comes to mixing pop and politics via music while providing a fabulous listen to get your feet tapping, your hips swaying and your mouth to contort itself into a big and silly grin. But I’ll willingly argue that David MacGregor, in his guise as Broken Chanter, is more than capable, especially through the songs on the album Chorus of Doubt.
It’s a subtle and very personal type of politics on display. There’s little in the way of sloganeering, albeit there are lines which wouldn’t sound out of place on any demonstration or protest. There’s nothing preachy about the record. The songs make pleas to listeners not to wait for revolutions or seismic shifts in political landscapes, but instead to take their own personal, and what might, on the surface, be relatively small actions to effect change and make a difference.
In saying all that, if you put the lyrics to one side, you’ll find a record packed with danceable and sing-a-long indie-pop/rock tunes with just a hint of funk thanks to the bass contributions from the ridiculously talented Charlotte Printer.
It’s worth mentioning that David often plays live in a stripped-back setting, as he did when supporting Arab Strap on some gigs across Scotland back in October and as he has just done doing again last month with a short headlining stint on the road taking in a number of towns/villages such as Coatbridge, St Monans, Montrose, Portree and Resipole which are rarely (if ever!) visited by touring singers or bands. All of these shows were just David and Charlotte, but the next live outing, on 29 January 2025, will see all four members of the band take to the stage at Cottier’s Theatre in the west end of Glasgow. It is part of the annual Celtic Connections festival and will be Broken Chanter’s biggest headliner to date. I can guarantee it will be a barn-stormer of a show.
Getting back to the foot-tapping, hips-swaying, dancing and singing-along numbers…..here’s the album closer, which just happens to contain the line from which the record takes its title:-
mp3: Broken Chanter – So Much For The End Of History (I’m Still Here)
And even when things are slowed down a bit, the songs are still earworms
Don’t You Think That Something Needs To Be Done, the first of the three tracks featured in this post, was recently released as a digital single in newspaper form (yes, really!!!!!). It is backed by three cover versions, The Moving On Song (Go, Move, Shift), Worker’s Song, and All You Fascists, originally written by Ewan MacColl, Ed Pickford, and Woody Guthrie, respectively. Head over to this bandcamp page for more info.
And while you’re there, you can also flick over to another page and listen to all the tracks on Chorus of Doubt, after which I’m certain you’ll want to pick up the vinyl, CD or digital copy. Happy shopping.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 