Andy Jones - Fights Like Ours (CD)

An emotional pendulum between melancholy and optimism. A community of loss, grief, development and hope. A call to action. Fights Like Ours is Andy Jones' third and most personal album to date. The singer-songwriter deals with deeply emotional stories. His father's death (I Don't Have Your Voice) and his mother's battle with cancer (Still Be Here) are as much a subject of the songs as his own long-suppressed and hidden emotional scars.
But he hasn't run out of socially critical topics either: He addresses the stigmatization of mental illnesses (Fights Like Ours), right-wing extremism in Germany (You Don't Speak for Me) and the black sheep of the music scene (No Reciprocity). Jones also continues his tradition of telling the stories of others through music (Running from Yourself, Better Late Than Never). And if he doesn't know the stories, he paints them based on true observations and interactions (Happy Now). The British singer-songwriter co-releases as he explores other songs that are philosophical (Shadows on a Cave Wall), metaphorical (Leaves, Where No Ships Remain) and imaginative (Only One Arrives, The Life You Didn't Lead). "Inevitable" features a bonus track in the language of the country he has called home for the past 15 years.
Musically, Fights Like Ours has prompted Jones to think outside the box: his usual mix of rock, folk and piano pop is now complemented with elements of ambient, country and indie pop music. Lyrically, several songs bear the fruits of his collaboration with newcomer singer-songwriter Emily Larkin. Jones also continues to experiment instrumentally, offering new sounds through the incorporation of harmonium, lapsteel guitar, theremin, daf drum and electronic beats. And his own playing style also shows newer musical influences: the guitarist, otherwise known as a strummer, now also uses fingerpicking in some songs, as is also known from greats like Damien Rice, Glen Hansard, John Paul White and William Fitzsimmons. Nevertheless, Jones' "rock roots" cannot be overheard, when calmer opening passages turn into powerful crescendos again and again.
Unspoken (2016) is a concept album about a fictional failed relationship. Shield (2018) also deals with relationships, but also included a variety of messages on personal, ethical and political issues (parenting, animal welfare, refugees, war, political indifference). Fights Like Ours now reveals Andy Jones' seemingly limitless musical imagination, poetic skill and inescapable emotional depth. As before, Jones uses his artistic talents to encourage respect, courage, and self-care. Listeners are invited to join the invisible legion of survivors who have overcome present and past obstacles. Fights Like Ours is Jones' contribution to the soundtrack of this movement.

01 Fights Like Ours
02 Running From Yourself
03 Shadows On A Cave Wall
04 Still Be Here
05 Only One Arrives
06 Leaves
07 Where No Ships Remain
08 The Life You Didn't Lead
09 I Don't Have Your Voice
10 No Reciprocity
11 Happy Now
12 Better Late Than Never
13 You Don't Speak For Me
14 Inevitable