Review: Gypsy Blood by Tamsin Quin.

It’s Sunday morning and I’m listening to Gypsy Blood by Tamsin Quin. Tamsin is a young singer-songwriter from just up the road from here, Devizes in Wiltshire. I first heard Tamsin when she supported Beth Orton a couple of weeks ago in Frome. I was very impressed. I’m guessing that it was the biggest audience that she had ever played to, but she didn’t seem at all fazed by it and it must have been great for her that the audience actually listened to the songs which doesn’t always happen when you are the support act. I had a quick word with Tamsin during the interval and said I would write a review of the album, but I have been so busy lately that I’ve only just got around to it.

Tamsin in Frome

The opening track is called Searching and is a very upbeat cheerful country flavoured song. I should mention the contributions of guitar bass and cello of Lucas Drinkwater are very impressive on this album. We Are Home is much simpler with just Tamsin’s acoustic guitar, bass & drums, but very effective as is the next track Fearless. Upwards For Me has a much fuller sound with mellatron strings & vibes added. It is a very positive song about getting on with life after a disappointment.

The album takes a quantum leap then with Jennifer. This is the song that first made me pay attention when I heard it in Frome. It has a haunting quality and the line ‘I will find you one of these days’ lingers in the mind. I believe it was inspired by a book called Engleby by Sebastian Faulks. The cello adds to the brooding atmosphere of this song. I have shared a nice video of this song below which also shows some of our beautiful Wiltshire countryside as well. Seventeen is also a great song that tells a sad story of empty lives and broken dreams. The title track Gypsy Blood is next and is very simple with just acoustic guitars and upright bass but less is often more as in this case. I like the mention of October Skies which reminded me of Moondance by Van Morrison. The final track is Leaving In The Night which is a nice song to end the album with. I should mention the piano and vibes playing of Jon Buckett to the album and his production as well.

I have really enjoyed listening to this album this Sunday morning. I hope we hear more from Tamsin Quin. Tamsin has her own facebook page if you want to check out the album and find out about future gigs.