Love is Gone - Jack Ladder
Tim Rogers. By day a simple Sydneysider, often mistaken for the lead singer of You Am I. By night he is known only as Jack Ladder.
This so-called Jack Ladder has just released his second album, a former Triple J Feature Album that goes by the name of Love Is Gone. His first attempt at an LP, 2005's Not Worth Waiting For, was a very brooding affair, but Jack's most recent offering takes a completely different course.
It is an excitingly upbeat record, with imaginative lyrics, a strong combination of styles, a great assortment of instruments and fantastic use of Ladder's amazing voice. All these factors come together to make an incredible album.
You would be forgiven for thinking that Love Is Gone was recorded decades ago. It mixes many musical styles, most of which were popular a very long time ago. This does not mean that this album sounds outdated, however. Ladder has used swing, folk, country and even a bit of a big band feel, all combined under a rock and roll umbrella and yet the music is exceptionally fresh.
The guitar work on Love Is Gone is fantastic, but the instruments that really make this album what it is are the keys and the horn section. The piano in "The Boy" is very much like that heard playing in saloons in old western movies and throughout the record the keys compliment Ladder's style well. The horns are also a great addition as they help give the LP its big band sound, especially in "Best Kept Secret".
The violin also plays a beautiful cameo in "I Love Your Mind", a slow, soothing number in which Ladder shows a lot of raw emotion. This song shows the folky side of Love Is Gone.
Jack Ladder has an amazing voice. It is deep, rich, mature and has an unbelievable range, as demonstrated in "The Boy", where he hits screaming highs and mellow lows. He has a very Nick Cave-like sound to his voice: that deep, soulful, emotion-filled rumble.
However, just because their voices are similar, it does not mean their styles are as well. Love Is Gone is a far more upbeat album than any of Cave's and although both musicians have a strong focus on love, Ladder's songs are more positive and uplifting. The lyrics on this record are often quite depressing and dark, such as in "Love Is Gone", but this is nearly always countered with the upbeat tunes and Ladder's almost childlike enthusiasm.
The lyrics in this album are also fantastic and imaginative. They are eloquent, flowing and unpredictable. There is not a cliché in sight, thankfully. "The Barber's Son" is a perfect example. It has no chorus, the tune is pretty much the same from start to finish and each sentence has the same basic structure: "Barber's son won't cut his hair/Nurse's daughter does not care". But it never gets boring, entertaining right the way through and it is probably my favourite track on the record.
Love Is Gone does slip up, though, on a couple of songs. "Counterfeit Bible" has a very grating guitar piece and gets annoying very quickly. Also, "You Won't Be Forgotten (When You Leave)" is a pretty boring song that left me wondering where Jack's enthusiasm had gone. But these tracks are followed up by the last on the album, "Mother (Bird's The Word)", a fun, rollicking song that tops off a great album.
I am giving Love Is Gone 4 out of 5 stars and I strongly recommend you invest in a copy. It sounds like Jack Ladder had a lot of fun making this album and I guarantee you will have a lot of fun listening to it.
