Album Review: Owen Kennedy’s ‘Bollox Blues’
“Is there anyone you’ve seen on kind of the grassroots level that you wanna recommend to people?”
Tyler: “Owen Kennedy! Oh my God! yeah Owen Kennedy, he’s just released an album called Bollox Blues yeah he’s one of the best artists that no ones heard”
Lewis: “Everyone’s music in 2075 will sound like his music guaranteed”
This transcript comes from an NME interview video with Black Country, New Road at the 2021 Mercury Prize event in London. Surprisingly, this marked my first introduction to Owen Kennedy, an underground indie artist from the UK. When Tyler mentioned his name, I quickly hopped on Spotify to check out his music. What grabbed my attention initially was the album cover — a simple image with a peace sign in a pixelated, low-res style, featuring red lighting and the text “Owen Kennedy’s Bollox Blues.” Judging from this cover, I thought Owen Kennedy embodied the essence of a DIY artist who prioritizes art over profits, someone who doesn’t chase Rolex but creates music for its own sake.
Bollox Blues is a heartfelt, melodic, and dreamy work of art. It’s like an imaginary spaceship with a time-travel feature, ready to whisk you off to the harsh environment of Saturn (though you won’t really get there). Instead, it offers an alternative journey, taking you back to a time when you lounged on your not-so-comfy bed, listening to MTV play JET’s “Look What You’ve Done,” a favorite of some Pitchfork journalist. Or it transports you to the days when you could leisurely sip coffee in the era of Pangea, with the possibility of Gorgonopsians acting as your Uber drivers for a scenic tour of “virgin” planet Earth.
The album starts with a track called “I Quit My Barista Job,” which immediately hooks you with the lyrics, “When I got my barista job, it lasted just 48 hours.” Quite an attention-grabbing line, isn’t it? Whether Owen resigned with a two-week notice or got laid off remains a mystery, known perhaps only to the gods. The song envelops you in a rich mix of reverb-laden vocals and delicate, charming guitar strumming. At times, Owen’s voice may remind you of Isaac from Black Country, New Road, which makes you wonder if British indie artists all sound somewhat similar, though Geordie Greep stands out. The song is a soothing blend of captivating crooning and a soothing guitar loop that can ease your nerves.
Bollox Blues could be described as “heartfelt buoyant” music, a term that reflects how social media tends to glamorize mental health issues. It’s more about marketing than reality, but it risks overshadowing the artist’s complex music, filled with emotions that go beyond just “sadness.” In fact, many of these emotions are not sad at all. However, the fourth track, “Hold My Hand,” seems to fit this description to some extent, with only three lines of lyrics:
“Who’s going to hold my hand?”
“Who’s going to understand?”
“If you can’t hold my hand.”
Be prepared; this track might make you feel incredibly lonely. That’s how I feel every time I listen to this simple, beautiful song. It’s like a gentle portrayal of everyday love, not the grand, epic kind you see in movies. It’s about the little moments, the small joys, and the simple rituals that make up love without overthinking or overemphasizing them. In this context, The Beatles’ classic “I Want to Hold Your Hand” could be a fitting response to Owen’s musings.
Bollox Blues candidly explores the pain of change but doesn’t dwell there for too long, thanks to those bluesy guitar sounds with a touch of vibrato. The musical arrangements are rich but not overpowering, lively yet not too loud, indulgent but not excessively distracting. They do a lot, but they never steal the spotlight from the album’s understated charm.
