Peter Raeburn: You And Me
Peter Raeburn: You And Me
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Friday, 01, May 2009 02:39
Now Ever, out now.
In a nutshell...
Contrived, lushly-orchestrated pop from soundtracker to the adverts.
What's it all about?
A digital soundscape from the producer of epic sounding music-to-order. 12 tracks are featured on this debut, with title track Tipsy Delightful an accurate description in itself of an album which knowingly careers through genres like a naughty drunkard of music. Peter Raeburn;s own PR company helpfully explain widely celebrated single Celebrare as "an upbeat warble", though this is harsh praise indeed of the stand-out track which anchors the album with its choral chants and widescreen sound.
Who's it by?
As creative director of Soundtree, a company specializing in music for advertisements, the next logical step would be to build upon the acclaim with an album of one's own. Having worked on projects with Stella Artois, Sony, Honda and Nokia, writing music to order has been profitable for Peter Raeburn. However this debut album sees him move into singing and true songwriting, albeit with predictably mixed results.
Born in Johannesburg but raised in London, the paternal side of the family is highly musical. His South African grandfather was an opera singer, with opera and classical music a huge part of his family life. And throughout school and university (where he studied Politics and Philosophy) Peter immersed himself in music, and taught himself how to play a variety of instruments.
The multi-instrumentalist upbringing paid off in the end as in 1999, Raeburn sourced the soundtrack for the famously popular Guinness TV commercial, Surfer, showing a herd of white horses galloping through a rough sea. You and Me is however his first foray into the album format with original work of his own.
As an example...
Someone used to orchestrating emotive ad music is not necessarily suited to be the greatest songwriter. Neither does working with instrumental music preclude them from lyrical greatness. However upon hearing the instant vocals of opening track Tipsy Delightful there is no doubt that writing lyrics may not come as naturally as the music. "Tipsy Delightful/When my cup is half full/I go and throw it all away/I'm the highest flyer, I'm the lowest liar" is the opening salvo in an album stuffed with words that sound like placeholders until something better could be thought up.
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
For every William Orbit and Craig Armstrong there is a raft of failures within the troubled genre of electronica or 'soundtrack music'. Unless you receive the kind of leg-up needed from placement in commercials or remixing major pop artists that is needed to gain attention, then it is likely that any producer can remain a niche concern.
Fortunately for Peter Raeburn his music has received plenty of the former, with work on the Guinness and Smirnoff accounts ensuring a flurry of "who wrote that song in that ad?" postings on internet message boards.
Whether this is enough for anyone to follow his output in album format remains to be seen, with the likelihood being a slew of downloads of Celebrare...
What the others say
"What lets Raeburn down is his limp, one-dimensional voice which drags his breezy cleverly crafted arrangements from a fantasy world of wonder and into a Croydon semi." - Virgin Media
"Traces of his love of Bowie, the Beatles and Pink Floyd ripple across the record, but what strikes you above all is the immediacy and elegance of Peter's songwriting." - Gaydar Radio
So is it any good?
The transition from creating music to order to ordering your thoughts into creating is not always an easy one. After a successful career as producer of high-impact music for advertising campaigns, all augured well for Peter Raeburn as he used those seemingly transferable skills in making his first album.
It is as if Raeburn was unaware of the essential definition of an album when creating You and Me. You and Me is a collection of tracks from a man who is used to making items to order, rather than a songwriter compelled to pour out his heart. There is nothing wrong in principle with this method which has proved successful in the past for others - see Mark Ronson's curating of pop artefacts on his Version album. Arguably this hit record was tied together by little other than a producer excited by trying on different styles. Yet its success proves that the record-buying public need not know much about the supremo in order to connect with the songs.
However with You and Me Raeburn meanders between his favourite influences as if making a MySpace-style musical profile. The first track of any debut should give us a clear idea of where this artist sits, where he or she wants to take us. With Tipsy Delightful we are none the wiser - Raeburn sounds like a worrying parody of Mika with a curiously flat, stylized singing style that to all intents and purposes sounds like a guide vocal awaiting a session singer.
And it is his singing which unfortunately for Raeburn is hard to see past. Pouring of Rain sees him take the energy down a bit with lush soft-rock sounds, yet in losing the backing sounds the voice is exposed further. Sadly despite the maker's intentions this does not open up a rich sonorous vocal sound.
And on Small World it is the admittedly excellent music which needs to predominate. The track is eerily reminiscent of Dark Side Of The Moon-era Pink Floyd with its warm downtempo musings. Yet Raeburn is no Roger Waters and the facile lyrics and poor delivery detract hugely from what could have been a stand-out song.
Overall the album's ambition is limited by the awkwardness of what seems like an unclear songwriting process. Trying on styles inspired by your influences is nothing to be frowned at, and certainly nothing new. Raeburn however appears overwhelmed by the album format. Good musical ideas abound in this curious album, yet his voice does little to tie them together. Instead one wonders what record could have been achieved if he had called in session singers as Massive Attack and Zero 7 are wont to do.
Time for the advertising music guru to dig a little deeper into that contacts book.
4/10
Marcus Dubois