Album Review: Tony Wright – The Anti Album

The Anti Album is Tony Wright’s lock down creation that sees him bearing his soul and putting everything in to the 10 songs that make up the album. The fact he has done this demands respect on it’s own, but the fact its stunningly brilliant and beautifully put together is another reason. The minimal production and stripped instrumentation keeps the tracks raw and honest and deeply emotive, but also relatable and for some hilarious.

With a street poet/busker feel first track ‘Sleep’ is the perfect introduction to the album. Wrights loud vocals with a slight sneer just punch through and sound amazing over an acoustic guitar. It’s a talent in itself to create with so little. Wright has that talent nailed down.

The album sounds like an acoustic version of a big band full electric effort. ‘Nothing To Write Home About’ has that stripped back quality. The stark lyrics delivered in a dead pan way still transmit the emotion of a broken relationship that’s relatable in the little details. A dragging beat accompanies the heartbreak.

Hypnotic in all the best ways, ‘Get It Wrong’ is a low slung dirty country track that just sounds fantastic. It’s a brooding take on failing with some nifty guitar work and superb minimal percussion that sounds big sitting in the back of the mix.

A dark lyrical track ‘Buried You Deeper’ and a cowboy twist there is a campfire feel to the tracks slow plodding rhythms. An antidote is giving with next track, the beautiful ‘Dreaming I’m In Love’. If this doesn’t stop you in your tracks then you are listening to the wrong album and this isn’t for you. Heart hitting lyrics and masterful chord changes and finished off with some tasty guitar noodling.

The late night ‘All In Our Heads’ is classic soul bearing stuff which comes across as a track that had to be written. ‘Cannonball’ is the same. A self critical track that is equal part depressing and part hopeful echoed with the up lifting chord progression. these are tracks that just had to be torn out of Wrights head and put to tape.

‘Heaven’ is a “Light hearted story of a Bradford lad at the gates of heaven. Explaining to St. Peter that it was just a visit and I’ll be going back in a bit cos I have stuff to do.” It pairs with ‘Gamble, Drink And Smoke’ Inspired by a miserable old goat in Wight’s local paper, who had received a telegram from the Queen. Both are a nod to Wright’s impressive song writing talent with the humorous and imaginative track

‘Hearts And Minds’ is a song that fights back against all the miseries in the world. Written during the Covid lock downs you can hear the frustration and fear with in Wright’s vocals but also the hope and the message of love and looking after each other.

With songs written deep from with in Wright’s soul this album must have had a cleansing, refreshing affect on him. The tracks are superbly recorded that lets you feel not just hear the heartache, joy and despair written into each track. You only need a voice and guitar when you have this kind of talent.

Check out the track Cannonball, below:

Find out more via Wright’s Website or Facebook

The Anti Album is available in the usual CD and vinyl, plus an exclusive limited edition red vinyl album, here

To celebrate the release of the Anti Album, Tony will be playing 19 shows starting on the day of the album release at the Victoria Hall in Settle on 7^th October and finishing on 11^th November at The Jericho Tavern in Oxford.

UK dates in full

October