Luke Thompson: Here on the Ground (Pure)

This young singer-songwriter from Tauranga came to my attention a few weeks ago when I was asked if I would write a bio to accompany the release of this, his debut album.

I get a few such requests but only ever take on someone whose music impresses me (Miriam Clancy was another) and a quick check at Thompson's MySpace page told me all I needed to know: the guy has a way with an intelligent lyric and a memorable song.

He is a real singer-songwriter (by that I mean in the tradition of Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Don McLean and Paul Simon, not one of your alt.country types) and he augments his guitar-framed music with a small band and some discreetly placed strings. He also cuts a wide swathe lyrically from gentle ballads of personal emotions (with hook-hard choruses) to fat-back band workouts where he tosses questions at you. Songs like Look the Other Way ("you can look the other way . . . but you can never say you didn't know") also show he's a writer who has a social conscience -- which he doesn't batter you with but uses as just another aspect of musical personality.

Luke Thompson has already had radio success with a couple of low-key singles, but this mature and confident album suggests he's bigger than the three minute song and is in for the long haul.

For that we should all be very happy.