“In My Arms“
from the album A Piece of What You Need
2008
iTunes
His musical pedigree couldn’t be any more impressive, but lineage only takes you so far before you have to stand on your own merits. Teddy Thompson — son of folk-rock icons Richard and Linda Thompson — more than lives up to the family name on his latest solo effort.
A Piece of What You Need, Thompson’s fourth album, expands his singer-songwriter vibe into a broader, sophisticated pop sound built around airy, sometimes bold arrangements from producer Marius de Vries.
Despite the step up in production, it’s still very much Thompson’s record. He’s a confident singer who radiates low-key charm, and he has a knack for sounding both pensive and wry. “My standards are slipping day by day / I’ll sleep with anyone who gets in my way,” he sings, playing the cad on opening song “The Things I Do.”
His melodies are subtle, but don’t confuse his restraint with detachment — these songs sound deeply felt. Thompson repents a breakup on “Don’t Know What I Was Thinking,” a tune with a faint country-and-western vibe in the jangling rhythm guitar, and offers loving reassurance on “One of These Days,” a fast shuffle packed with a riot of horns, stinging guitar leads and barrelhouse piano vamps.
Thompson says in the press notes that the album title reflects his desire to contribute “some tiny little building block of something worthwhile, rather than just adding to the massive pile of disposable rubbish” that passes for popular music these days. He’s done it: A Piece of What You Need is, in fact, exactly that.