‘Family’ is the rather apt title of David Woodman’s latest album. The accomplished strings player opens up this theme to encompass all kinds of permutations on a record that feels both inclusive and encouraging. Whether relationships, friendships, acquaintances, or strangers together through circumstance, the songs here all speak back to a foundation of love on which these connections rest; without which the definition of family could not truly exist.
The title track opens up proceedings and borrows Christian images to disrupt the traditional notion of what the definition of family is. To “make room at the table… breaking bread and sharing wine” is most obviously a reference to the Eucharistic idea that all are welcome as brothers and sisters to partake in the same meal. Such a gathering does not in itself constitute the notion of family however. Woodman immediately diverts attention the other way for ‘Get Away’. Here, the emphasis is on breaking free of familiarity and close bonding because “when everyone knows your name / it’s hard to start again”. Family is as much an expression of release and letting go as it is that place of protection and safety. Love affords this sense of freedom in order to discover if “tomorrow can be better than you know”, while at the same time existing in the kind of stable and steady relationship talked about in ‘Seasons’. After two tracks where the strings flourish, the delicate simplicity of this arrangement offers a touching moment of reflection. Here, love is hard won and continues to grow in spite of the challenges which, even in the face of a more stereotypical family set-up, still exist.
‘One More Reason’ faces trials and difficulty head on from a different perspective. It offers support and encouragement on a very basic level, and with a great degree of relatability, becoming a friend in the face of anxiety. ‘Stay Strong Our Kid’ does similar, powerfully presenting its central point of defiance through playful piano and sympathetic guitar. In between, the gently sweeping Folk of ‘Flying Solo’ contrasts with the thrusting beat of Blues-based ‘Rolling Down This Road’. Only the romantics can relate to the former’s parting of ways for a period, whereas the latter speaks universally of life as a journey, which for most often feels like “rolling down… a narrow way”.
The Tim McGraw-esque ‘Be Human Be Kind’ draws beautifully on human fragility to inspire us to “be the reason someone smiles”. Such a gorgeous message deserves valued listening, and is followed by a banjo-busting double consisting of a hymn-like instrumental ‘Around the Fire’ and bluegrass ode to ‘A Simple Life’. The final track, ‘The First Step’, completes this uplifting collection, with a push to “walk the talk” after having “been too long standing still”. Its closing instrumental feels emblematic of the start of this journey towards action, motivated by a desire to stop being a passive spectator to hopes and dreams and begin chasing them instead. Such words might be spoken by David Woodman the musician but, if they become the reality by which we as listeners then live, he becomes to us a representation of the kind of family of which he speaks. A family to which we can all belong.
Never has an album title been so succinct in summing up what it’s all about.
You can order ‘Family’ by David Woodman on his BandCamp page here. It is set for release on June 28th 2024.
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Featured Images (C) David Woodman
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