The strongest voice on this fine album is one that you never hear. That may sound like a puzzler from a Christmas cracker, but it is the truth. Renowned Scottish folk-rock singer Linda Thompson, 77 next month, doesn’t sing a note because she can’t; the condition that she has lived with for more than 40 years, spasmodic dysphonia, means that for her fifth solo album she has to call on others to voice her 11 co-written songs. Hence the title which, in turn, prompts the humorous cover featuring her in a glamour outfit similar to that worn by the model Kari-Ann Moller on the cover of Roxy Music’s eponymous 1972 debut album.
Luckily, those others include her seriously talented son and daughter, Teddy and Kami Thompson, and various members of their wider circle. The Wainwright siblings, Rufus and Martha, are there, as are The Unthanks, The Proclaimers, John Grant and Eliza Carthy. Even her former husband Richard Thompson helps out by co-writing the hauntingly beautiful Three Shaky Ships which Rachel And Becky Unthank deliver with autumnal charm.
The bitterness of the Thompsons’ break-up all those years ago has dissolved in time. Thankfully the music they made together, such as the classic I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, still sounds essential.
On Proxy Music the quality of Ms Thompson’s lyrics stand out; they are imbued with her sharp wit, intelligence and sensitivity. The strength of her voice is never lost in the melange of performers and styles. This is a tribute to Teddy’s production – he pulls what could have been a mess into a coherent and convincing piece of work. He even finds time to co-write and perform Those Damn Roches, a wry, affectionate roll-call of their extended musical family.
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His sister Kami is no slouch either. On The Solitary Traveller and Mudlark she sings with a confidence her mother might envy. Martha Wainwright’s Or Nothing at All is redolent of her mother, Kate McGarrigle; enough said. And John Grant, co-written by John Grant and sung elegantly by the same man, is both strange and lovely. Indeed, that could describe this album.
