David Ford - 'I Sincerely Apologise For All The Trouble I've Caused' (Independiente) Released 03/10/05

We all have our guilty pleasures; this Gigwise reviewer actually thinks that Paul McCartney’s thumbs up signs are cool (right you're sacked! - ED), there are some good actors in Hollyoaks, and Karl and Susan Kennedy are getting hotter with age. This distinctly unfashionable stance extends to earnest acoustic artists – Stephen Fretwell, Damian Rice, David Gray –are, well, nice. Although, obviously, James Blunt’s sickening vocal dribble is beyond realms of decency. And here we come to David Ford’s ‘I Sincerely Apologise For All The Trouble I’ve Caused’; a solid addition to our sincere band of merry men. ‘I Sincerely Apologise...’ charts Ford’s experiences with love and life and as life is - to all extents and purposes – shit: it is a tale of paranoia, resentment, recrimination, disappointment and drinking to forget. A perfect stocking filler for your Granny this Christmas.

Album opener, ‘I Don’t Care What You Call Me,’ with its minimal guitar and keys, shunts Ford’s vocals and lyrics to the fore. Being a man, Ford can’t actually take responsibility for being a prick and spends the duration of the song asserting, who would have guessed it, "I don’t care what you call me," rather than doing the honourable thing and apologising for the heinous act he has committed. He then insolently states: "I know I let you down – but Christ you let me know," nice one, Dave, shift the blame onto the bird. Before wailing: “what else can you throw at me that I haven’t heard before?” Here’s one for the pot, Ford: ‘scrotum-face.’ Hope you like it. Bitching apart, it’s a memorable and unusual take on the typical break-up ode and an accurate measuring stick for the quality of the album on a whole.

‘State of the Union’ is Ford’s vituperative attack on men in suits, who "talk and talk and don’t ****ing listen." We start with guitar strums ticking over like a controlled engine, until piano plonks, shaking percussion and rapid drum beats are gradually added and the whole gathers momentum like a speeding train, culminating in a mangled crash of instruments and impassioned lyrics with Ford spitting the likes of “preach on with the message: ‘go **** your neighbour.’”

Slinky piano, lush cello and sax mingle in ‘What Would You Have Me Do?,’ Ford’s tale of lingering, unrequited love. While ‘Don’t Tell Me’ complete with sultry electric guitar and skulking bass is a sulky tale of paranoia and recrimination, with Ford pouting: ‘Don’t tell when I’m wrong – because I already know.”  

To label David – glass half empty - Ford, ‘a tad miserable,’ is a slight understatement and seeing as he’s heard it all before and always knows when he’s wrong, he doesn’t need reminding from Gigwise. However, the fella treats misery with a finesse and eloquence which combine to make this album almost as beautiful as Karl and Susan. And just when you think you’ve had enough reminding of how disappointing the world is, Ford turns round and blurts out the pure loveliness which is ‘If You Only.’ A song brimming with affirmation and reassurance, with the cynical one himself insisting: “if you only knew how just how we feel about you, you couldn’t hurt like you do - and if you only knew how good it is to see you - you wouldn’t feel so alone,” amongst other such niceties. There’s definitely life in the old dog yet.