Sad Songs Say So Much

I’ll be honest. When Nicholas Chim contacted me about a month ago to ask if I’d be interested in reviewing his latest record, my first reaction was: who the fuck is Nicholas Chim?!?! 

It gradually dawned on me that I did know the guy, even if I’d forgotten at the time. I remembered that I’d heard the dude on BFM a couple of years ago. While I didn’t recall the content of the interview (still don’t) or the name of the record he was plugging (have since found out), I do remember I was impressed with the Singaporean singer-songwriter’s eloquence and the fact that he spoke reverently about one Nicholas Rodney Drake as well as some fellows called LaMontagne and Vernon. 

Forgiefan, Nick Chim’s second and latest LP is a distillation of all the things I remember liking about that BFM interview.

It’s earnest. It’s eloquent. And even a cursory listen -- provided you’re familiar with the records -- should reveal the influence of Ray LaMontagne’s Till The Sun Turns Black, The Tallest Man On Earth’s The Wild Hunt, Elliott Smith’s Either/Or as well as older singer-songwriter cornerstones like Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon (James Taylor), Solid Air (John Martyn) and There Goes Rhymin’ Simon (Paul Simon). 

Nick makes no attempt to hide the fact that he’s borrowing freely (I wont say stealing) from his heroes and that’s fine, really. Besides the fact that it’s virtually impossible, half a century into the game, to sound unique, sad bastard acoustic folk is too easy to fuck up. "Confessional" can easily become "self-indulgent wallowing" (James Blunt anyone?), so covering already covered ground, albeit in one’s own Doc Martens, is astute. Furthermore, while a lesser artist may have had trouble pushing his own voice to the fore, for the most part (read: with the exception of In Loving Memory which sounds too Damien Rice-y for my comfort), Nicholas Chim has made certain that even when you do hear James Taylor on Caterwauling and This House Still Stands and Paul Simon on Kiss Her For Me, you also hear him. His voice. His guitar. His stories.

If I have one issue with Forgiefan though it is that for a second LP, it doesn’t reveal the creator’s growth as an artist, musically and lyrically. You play Five Leaves Left and then Bryter Layter and finally, Pink Moon and you are able to hear Drake’s entire life. That isn’t the case when you put on Forgiefan after (first LP) I Have Damned Every Moment Over. Still, that’s a minor issue. And certainly, if you haven’t heard Nick before, it’s not going to matter much. Forgiefan is after all, a solid record of heartfelt tunes which hint, one hopes, at greater things to come. There also isn’t a ukulele to be heard on the entire thing! Praise God!

* Forgiefan, Nicholas Chim’s latest album is available via his website and Bandcamp page and at all Rock Corner outlets in the Klang Valley.