James Leonard Hewitson highly impressed Backseat Mafia early last year with his album ‘Only The Noise Will Save Me’ – classic pop songs of the highest caliber, backed up by a wall of sound that snaps and crackles at pace. We found Hewitson’s delivery to be witty, self-effacing and studied – a laconic stroll through the wilderness of his creative mind.
Now, around eighteen months later with a lot of dour misery in the world in the intervening time, Hewitson is back to entertain us with the single ‘Temporary Values’, and it is a welcome return. The single also anticipates a new album from Hewitsen entitled ‘Commercial’.
Hewitson’s skill is to craft boppy pop songs that sparkle with wit and intelligence – incorporating the essence of British indie guitar bands stretching back to The Kinks and passing through to Pulp, The Arctic Monkeys and their ilk. ‘Temporary Values’ has a chunky, juddering, angular guitar and rhythmic combination. It’s snotty, brash and wry as Hewitson sings about temporary values and what they do to you. He eviscerates today’s superficiality and narcism with a pop punk melody and a knowing sneer. It’s great and very refreshing stuff. Hewitson says of the track:
It’s a pretty straight up post-punk song which talks about bias, trickery and blamelessness, in a roundabout way.
It’s great to have him back.
Out through Win Big Records, you can download/stream ‘Temporary Values’ here or through the link below where you can preorder the new album which is out on 29 July 2021:
