Singles

Graham Coxon - Standing On My Own Again

Ross Fairhurst 27/02/2006

Rating: 4/5

Former Blur guitarist Graham Coxon won great critical acclaim for his last solo album "Happiness in Magazines" and he hopes to follow this on with his new album "Love travels at illegal speeds". The lead single is the track "Standing on my own again". "Standing on my own again" is a single man's song about love, so there are no jingly jangly Stevie Wonder moments here.

It is the sound of a man enjoying making music with little or no pressure on him. The sound is punky but retains the essential catchy pop edge but don't think that this is a "Green Day" or "Good Charlotte" esque effort. The sound is raw with many layers of guitar and as with all of his work it is full of hooks, licks and riffs that keep on appearing on every new listen.

To the average listener, Coxon's voice might not be the most appealing but
his voice certainly suits this style of music and I am a firm believer that a weaker but more unique voice is better than the "Pop Idol" perfect voices that litter the charts. His voice just adds to the image of a miserably shy man who's only happiness is in his music.

For such an admittedly shy man, this is a very honest and open song talking about love in more neutral and negative terms than any manufactured pop group ever would. I wish he would open up more often as this is one of his best sets of lyrics yet.

This is a stellar single that deserves to do well not only on the dance floors for indie nights but hopefully in the charts too. If you get a chance go and see him on his forthcoming tour, it'll be one of the best things you'll do in 2006.