THE ANDREW FISHER SONGBOOK – Various Artists (SimG Records – SimGR-CD040)
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
This is the latest release from the label SimG Records which is dedicated to supporting emerging artists and musical theatre writers and the company is to be lauded for such.
The Andrew Fisher Songbook contains songs from Fisher’s catalogue of musical theatre song writing and there is much to admire in this collection. There is humour as well as pathos – all given the five-star treatment from a plethora of talented singers.
The artists on the album are: James Gillan, Chloe Hart, Wendi Peters, Danny Colligan, Stephen Weller, Annalene Beechley, Lauren Samuels, Joel Montague, Lorna Want, Molly Lynch, Ben Stock and Daniel Boys.
The first four tracks are from an upcoming musical that Fisher is writing entitled Alphabet Soup. There are two deliciously funny numbers (‘Alphabet Soup’ and ‘All Men Are Bastards’) and another two more poignant tracks (‘Nothing to Be Done’ and ‘How Foolish Of Me’). These set the tone and standard for the rest of the album. ‘I Say We Fight’ – a rallying call, ‘At the Crossroads’ – a song beautifully describing a point we have all encountered. ‘Caught in the Rain’ – a touching number almost in the operatic genre. ‘Big Cheddar’ – a lovely little pastiche from Detective Dan! We then have ‘Second Base’ – a jazzy humorous number, followed by ‘Gloucester Road’ – the oldest song on the album – a touching, beautifully sung track. The humour bounds back with another ode to one of those days ‘That Kind of Day’, finishing with ‘Heaven’s Plan’s a Mystery’, a beautiful track that was used in Gabriel, a nativity musical released in 2020.
All-in-all this is an absolute delight to have on the CD player and I really can’t fault it. The artists bring the song writing of Andrew Fisher to life and I look forward to more of the same coming in the near future. Alphabet Soup sounds like it is going to be quite a lark – bring it on.
Nick Wakeham
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