Sad Songs, Lush Sounds

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 19, 2008 5:45PM

David Ford is distinctly British in that he has no problem mixing orchestral arrangements with spry pop and boppy dancehall melodies, sometimes within the span of a single song.

His latest album, Songs For the Road, consists of nine songs that don't stray, lyrically at least, from the topics of love won, lost, and lamented. Nothing really new there, huh? But the music behind the songs is a carefully crafted joy to listen to, and that's where we think Ford's true talent blossoms.

So that's why we're curious to see Ford's live show, since he pulls a Jon Brion and constructs all the songs via live looping on stage. So we'll have a chance to see him build up his arrangements from scratch right before our very eyes, and that should be a treat.

David Ford opens for Bell X1 at Schubas tonight, 9 p.m., $10, 21+

Photo by Barney Britton from Ford's MySpace page