If you go back through this blog you’ll find scribblings about The Adverts, TV Smith’s Explorers and TV Smith himself. In those you’ll read about my long standing admiration for him and how I’ve been lucky enough to become acquainted with him. On June 14th this year I was privileged to be able to promote the Shrewsbury show on his UK tour promoting this, his latest album “Handwriting”. I picked this copy up at the gig. It’s on “Glow in the Dark” vinyl (although I’ve yet to play it in the dark) and it’s great.

TV has fashioned himself into an acoustic troubadour over the years, travelling Europe with his collapsible guitar and at one time playing sets as long as Bruce Springsteen’s ! He still plays the old Punk hits, in Shrewsbury he opened with The Adverts “No Time To Be 21” (featuring my favourite opening line of almost any song in “Life’s short, Don’t make a mess of it”) followed by the Explorers mighty debut single “Tomahawk Cruise”, but these days much of his set is taken from the solo albums he’s been making since 1992’s “March Of The Giants”.

The title song “Handwriting” knocked me out at his recent Shrewsbury gig and hearing it here unwraps even more layers. It’s set in a sci-fi future where people are confined to sleepdromes full of screens and a camera that constantly monitors them. In this world handwriting is banned. Our singer has discovered if you “accidentally” cover the camera it takes the authorities 15 minutes to get to you so he can sit down and write by hand for 10 minutes at his antique Ikea desk. He writes slowly and purposefully, a little act of rebellion in a totalitarian future.

Elsewhere “Handwriting” is a state of the nation address if you like. He covers the furious pace of life in “Who’s Got The Time”, corrupt politicians in “Best Of The Worst” and our unknown but fate filled future in “Children Of A Dying Sun”. The instrumentation is largely acoustic with percussion, keyboards and other instruments played by producer Gerry Driver.

I’ve been on the TV Smith train since 1977. I’ve seen him live countless times and own a lot of his albums. He never gives less that 100%, he’s a songwriter and particularly a lyricist of great skill. More power to him and his righteous ire at the state of our world and long may he continue to make honest and engaging records like “Handwriting”.

Handwriting - https://youtu.be/AdNsCZqqFNo?si=-pNzw0wR_v_Ezq6S