It took three years, a lost love and an empty white room with a piano for Martin Gallop to commence work on a new album: Most Beautiful Song. And the very first, almost whispered lines provide a good idea of what awaits us:
”i will give you my hand / i’ll give you my word / i will run and jump when you shout / i will restore you and adore you and be your devout darling / and then i’ll give you something to cry about”.
Sometimes it’s about singing the pain away, sometimes suppressing it – in turns wistful when looking back, but then regretful. Although echoing away behind that sadness is always a quiet irony in the style of Hank Williams. It’s hard to say whether someone is crying while laughing or vice versa. And that’s precisely where the art of Martin Gallop takes off. His pain is a subtle jest in a waltz beat, and that hidden humour comes to light when he comes out with pithy comments like “my songs are for those who’ve been left, and those who would like to be.”
