Teddy Thompson – The future’s so bright…
It was only toward the end of the decade, when he encountered Neil Finn’s post-Split Enz ensemble Crowded House, that Thompson realized it was possible to reach wide audiences without prancing about in spandex trousers and a frosted hairdo. “That was the first time I went, ‘Oh, there’s a band that’s making music today that I can relate to,'” he remembers. “I saw a lot of their shows when I was growing up, and thought, ‘That’s what I want to do.'”
Looking back, Thompson can divine a few aspects in which the vintage music of his youth influenced his own aesthetic. “Listening to Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly instilled a belief in the virtues of the three-minute pop song,” he observes. (Of twelve originals on Separate Ways, only four run past the three-and-a-half-minute mark.) “I was drawn to the concise and well-crafted nature of those songs. It’s hard to say it all in such a short amount of time, but it’s a great form.
“I also liked the humor in those songs. Something like Chuck Berry’s ‘Brown Eyed Handsome Man’ is so witty and so well-written.”
Thompson cites the Separate Ways track “That’s Enough Out Of You” as an attempt to mine similar vein. A deceptively peppy number, it skirts dangerous territory, setting blunt lyrical barbs such as “Being happy is easy if you’re dumb” in a straight-up contemporary country arrangement, all rendered by a protagonist who comes off every bit as wretched as the saps he denigrates. Reminiscent of latter-day Rodney Crowell or early Dwight Yoakum (with a top note of Kirsty MacColl), it probably could prove a crossover smash for the right Music Row icon…if they were willing to alienate 97% of their peers and colleagues.
The blade Thompson wields is double-edged, though. On “I Wish It Was Over”, the narrator’s nitpicky protestations paint a declaration of co-dependence rather than independence. The bittersweet “Altered State”, meanwhile, ponders the role of self-medication in helping — and hindering — artists’ efforts to lead productive, cheerful-appearing lives.
As a lyricist, Thompson has tapped into the essence of great stand-up comedy: The more willing an individual is to expose his or her darkest emotions, the more entertaining and riveting the results. But since such soul-baring in its basest form is antithetical to the legendary British stiff upper lip, Thompson has also learned to filter his feelings through a dark, twisted lens.
“When I’m back in England, my sense of humor seems perfectly normal,” he says. “That dark, sarcastic humor runs through the English countryside. That’s just the way I think, really, so it comes out in the songwriting a bit. It’s a bit of deflection, as well. When it comes down to saying something really deep, I find it quite hard to keep a straight face.”
Take “Shine So Bright”, the twinkling lead track on the new album, and one of two caustic examinations of fame: “I wanna be a huge star/That hangs out in hotel bars/I wanna wake at noon/In somebody else’s room…” Thompson croons these lines with such sincerity, it takes a minute to see beneath the surface — something not all of today’s ADD audiences are prepared to do.
“I do feel a bit misunderstood,” Thompson admits. “People have a hard time with irony and sarcasm. They often only get one side of things, and either think a song is entirely in jest, or it’s thoroughly earnest.”
Having played in bands since adolescence, Thompson relocated to Los Angeles and officially went into the family business at 18. He contributed backing vocals and guitar to a couple albums by his father, You, Me, Us? (1996) and Mock Tudor (1999), and toured with his old man’s live band, often doubling as the opening act as he slowly established his solo career.
It was during this period that Thompson hooked up with Wainwright, the product of another famous, ill-fated folk union: Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle. The boys’ initial meeting was little more than a grown-up play date. “Our mothers conspired for us to hang out,” recalls Wainwright. But the arranged marriage took, as the two men discovered they shared more in common than anticipated, particularly fractious relationships with their fathers balanced by close maternal bonds.
“We immediately hit it off, and became really fast friends,” remembers Wainwright. So fast, in fact, that some people misconstrued their mutual affection. “At one point,” Rufus recalls, “Teddy called Linda, and said, ‘Mom, everybody thinks Rufus is my boyfriend.’ And she said, ‘Good!'”
Thompson eventually signed a deal with Virgin Records and, in 2000, released his eponymous first album. It was a worthy debut, with all of Thompson’s talents — his affecting voice, skillful guitar, and songwriting acumen — on display, complemented by sympathetic production from Joe Henry. The album was well-reviewed, and certainly has its highlights, notably the stark closer “Days In The Park”, a song about a child estranged from a parent that seems squarely aimed at his own father (Richard and Linda divorced in 1983), and “Hidden Children”, a collaboration with his un-boyfriend, Rufus.