Various Artists: Too Many Roads (Restless Hearts Covered). Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Well told stories never end, they find ways to adapt, to reach out with greater intensity and love, their emotions heightened by the continual appreciation and the way that others interpret the tale for others to hold on to and spread the word. If only we could all hold that type of power, that sense of engaged passion that others seek out, and for one of Liverpool’s most elegantly gifted songwriters, John Jenkins, his latest album, released in July, sees a wonderfully creative adaption conceived by the equally respected Jim Pearson, unveiled.

Too Many Roads (Restless Hearts Covered) is an honour of collaboration, a dignified unselfish relationship between friends, colleagues, admirers, and artists, and one that strides fearlessly between the expected polish and the human arrangement of the intimately scored.

To find such an array of talent, one freely given with a smile and desire, is to understand the depth of veneration in John Jenkins work. From critical acclaim and to local high regard to his music, the contrast of lyrical endeavour is sheer and detailed, and as artists such as Helen Flunder, Ann Radcliffe, John Booth, David Nixon’s Navigation, Ian F Ball, John Armstrong, and Jim Pearson himself all add to the engaging story telling and lyrically fierce movements, so the evidence of Mr. Jenkins’ arguably finest work comes to a natural and unrepentant sense of permanency, of being the deserved focus of the West Kirby Friday Night Musical Group, to the city in which he plied his trade and insights, and to the greater world beyond.

Tracks such as The Disappearance, Colorado In The Spring, Brooklyn, The Not Knowing, Farthings Wood, and I Didn’t Really Want To Change The World fill the listener’s soul with exuberance and longing, of melancholy and dreams unbound; and the result is a reverence, rightly, for the music and the man.

Too Many Roads (Restless Hearts Covered) is an extraordinary piece of work, one that is complimentary but never overshadows, one that is equal but always aware of the past it emulates; and to which is a joy to behold.

Ian D. Hall

It wasn't too long ago that songwriter and performer John Jenkins released his most recent record, Restless Hearts. When the album was released, word spread quickly, and it was reviewed by a multitude of magazines, featured on numerous playlists, and received plenty more attention. 

The album is a beautifully woven set of songs that are personal and serve as chapters in his life. 

As the record was getting ready for release, John came up with the idea of a different version of the record. A version with other artists covering his tracks in their own original and distinct styles, so that they are reimagined and recreated in an original sense. 

He put the word out via social media and other platforms, and soon enough, artists started to step forward. 

What came of it is a brand-new record called John Jenkins Songbook, Volume 1: Too Many Roads, which is an alternative take on his Restless Hearts record. 

The outcome is absolutely outstanding as the artists and bands gathering together to recreate these songs certainly do give their own spin, aesthetic, and atmosphere to the track that we're already honest, storytelling, and robust. 

Throughout the unfolding of the album, you have everything from blues, Indie pop, dream pop, acoustic singer-songwriter, and songs that even come through full-bodied and lush. 

It's incredible how these artists were able to give such a unique approach and aesthetic to the songs that already had this great impact in storytelling and authenticity, and songwriting to begin with. 

One of my favorite tracks on this record is "The Disappearance", which comes through as a very cinematic, vast, and expansive single that balances a line between something theatrical and cinematic, while remaining poetic and with a gorgeous, flowing overtone. 

This one was by Helen Flunder & Brendan Perkins, and together they really reprised this song in such a gorgeous way that you just get engulfed by it. 

Among others are songs like "Never Needed Much", performed by Rob Cast, which definitely gives that theatrical undertone and feel so stripped down and bare at certain points that you just pay so much attention to the emotion behind the vocal performance along with those lyrics. 

Others include "The Not Knowing" performed by Mel Reeves and Julie Meikle. 

This track has a beautifully performed jazz underbelly to it, and the guitar work here is outstanding because it reshapes the original song in such a unique fashion, but still holds on to the original in certain aspects. 

A lot of these tracks tend to stay close to the original performances keeping that sort of folk, Americana, and Southern touched undertone evident and on the upfront While others take complete different directions, so it was beautiful to see and hear so many different approaches to the original record and I'm sure that John himself was pretty blown away once it was all put together and he was able to sit back to listen to everything. 

What's even cooler about this whole thing is that there are secondary versions of tracks throughout this record, meaning there are multiple songs covered twice by different bands. 

Again, each one has something different to bring to the table, and although some are more familiar to John's original tonalities, some are not, and I just found the whole thing very enticing. 

Maybe this is because I know the original album so well, which is something you should go check out too.

This record spans 19 tracks and features as many artists. Again, certain tracks are covered more than once by two different artists or bands, but this still gives different life to those tracks, and each cover of a particular song is completely different from the next. 

Definitely check this record out as soon as you can because there's a lot to soak in here. Brilliant layers, amazing portrayals, and performances of some solid songwriting that still showcase some of the heart and sentiment that the originals came from. 

The record is available right now, so check it out and remember where you heard it first. 

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Staying local, in fact, rooting around AUK’s spiritual home of Liverpool, we have an album which is a bit of an oddity and a salute to a Liverpool songwriter. John Jenkins released his latest album, “Restless Hearts”, a few months ago, getting an 8/10 review from us. “Too Many Roads” is basically “Restless Hearts” reimagined and is delivered by 12 acts who each cover a song from the original album. A bold move, really, tempting hubris, tempered perhaps by Jenkins offering the album as a free download. Anyhow, the experiment works, and while the reworkings in themselves are all worthy of a listen, it’s instructive to listen to them in tandem with the original album. It’s a starker listen, with many of the songs stripped back: the best example being Robyn Gair’s delivery of ‘Too Many Roads’ while Will Riding adds some gravitas and doom to ‘Sound Of Thunder’. An interesting conceit.