Micah P Hinson - All Dressed Up

Author

Jasmine Hughes

Published

Tuesday 9th March

It is a difficult thing – producing an album of covers that is more exercise in re-invention then self-indulgence. Unfortunately far too often covers are lesser reproductions of the original or, even worse, travesties. Micah P. Hinson’s latest album, ‘All Dressed Up and Smelling of Strangers’ (excellent title) is a two disc array of covers that manages to produce a range of outcomes.

Many of the songs Hinson has chosen for this album are beyond ‘well known’ (‘The Time Are A’Changin’, ‘Suzanne’ ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?”)yet, whilst turning a well worn song on it’s head can sometimes be illuminating, allowing us to hear the familiar words and melody in a new way, Hinson’s take on these standards doesn’t veer far enough into experimentation. His version of ‘My Way’ does well to strip it of the pathos but his take on ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ could only be described as a failure. The general vintage feel of the album, from CD design through to instrumentation, works best with the more recent tunes such as those from Emmy the Great or Centro Matic. ‘All Dressed Up and Smelling of Strangers’ has its charms but it fails to chart new territory and is, yes, maybe a little self-indulgent. But maybe all music is, at heart, an act of self-indulgence, the only difference being whether that indulgence is appreciated by more then just the artist. After a hard time of it (jail, bankruptcy, homelessness, freak back accident) it could be that what Micah P. Hinson needed, was to self-indulgently immerse himself in his favourite music and share the songs that made him aim to be a musician in the first place. And if you look at the album that way, as someone sharing with you their favourite songs, it is an enjoyable experience (despite the travesties).