Paul Cook & The Chronicles - “Somebody Else”

Paul Cook & The Chronicles have successfully embodied everything that we love about modern folk music inside of one track: “Somebody Else.” This one begins with some quick bars from an acoustic guitar, then promptly breaks into a full band performance, immediately surrounding the listener in an atmosphere of melancholic bliss. The slow and steady pace of the rhythm section perfectly pushes this song along, like driving down a back road after a snowstorm before the plow has had a chance to clear it.

After a bit of digging, we found that Cook performs most of the instruments himself here, with Martyn Kaine on drums, but the real cherry atop this musical sundae is Cook’s heartwarming and melancholic vocal delivery. Once we heard his voice, we knew we had to make room for him on the blog. He has the rare gift of sounding like himself, while also embodying the entire genre of modern folk music. Imagine some sort of Jeff Tweedy-Elliott Smith-hybrid and you are almost there– the best way for you to get a clear idea would be to press play, but the takeaway here is that his voice is simultaneously unique and familiar and you are in for quite a treat!

“Somebody Else” is less than three minutes in length, but still has the ability to take you on a journey through most of your emotions. It is a "failed attempt to paper over the past & let go of the baggage.” About the track, Cook adds: “Musically I wanted to do something that starts out quite gently but gradually breaks apart as the song progresses - with harsher sounds taking over and displacing the sweetness. I was fighting the overdrive on the guitar the whole way through this one and the neighbours weren’t happy with me at all - but I’ve moved house (and country) since then … so all good!”

-TM