Jez Lowe has rightly earned himself a reputation as one of the finest and most complete singer/songwriters in England; his body of work over the past 15-20 years is littered with superb songs and the overall standard over a dozen or so albums is incredibly high. He’s also a prolific tourer; playing shows in the UK and abroad on pretty much a constant basis – with the amount of shows he plays combined with a steady output of strong albums you would expect him to have a much higher profile outside of the folk singer/songwriter field; but what is the wider public’s loss is our gain!
‘Jack Common’s Anthem’ is a superb disc, slightly different in feel to Jez’s recent albums and this is likely down to the fact that Steve Knightley and Phil Beer have had a large hand in the artistic process providing instrumental depth and colour as well as producing the album. The result of this is a fuller sound and the songs have a more accessible feel – Jez has always had a great ear for a melody and the addition of Show of Hands has really brought this to the fore, giving the disc a real immediacy. The folk roots are still all present and correct, as are Jez’s band The Bad Pennies, think of it as an evolution of the sound rather than a different direction.
What hasn’t changed is the quality of the songwriting or Jez’s love of the North East of England; the album starts and ends with fascinating songs of Jack Common, a writer whose novels recount the working class roots of Edwardian Tyneside; the songs certainly inspire the listener to dig a little deeper into Common’ work.
The nine remaining songs reinforce Jez as a superb singer/songwriter as he paints pictures of real life in the UK; there’s a theme of social history running through the disc and he describes events with ease; songs such as ‘The Sea and the Deep Blue Devil’, ‘Taking on Men’ and ‘The Miami’ are lyrically excellent, thought-provoking pieces that have depth and real personality.
‘Jack Common’s Anthem’ is Jez’s strongest album for a few years, the quality of the songs is a high as ever and the addition and input of Show of Hands has given the disc a real edge. Very highly recommended.

Track listing
1 Jack Common's Anthem
2 The Sea and the Deep Blue Devil
3 Taking on Men
4 Black Trade
5 The Miami
6 Will of the People
7 Yellow Hair
8 Heaney's Finger
9 Working Dirty
10 A Few Frontiers
11 Jack's Return

£13.49