4/5 stars
In Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity, the narrator frequently debates whether his sad disposition stems from years spent listening to pop music or if he likes pop music because he’s naturally sad. Jonny Telafone’s first official LP follows a relationship from the early stages of doting attraction, through ‘Does she really like me?’ insecurities and nasty fight scenes, before the ultimate ‘Inferno’, which actualises the title’s prophecy.
Throughout, one wonders if Telafone hadn’t been exposed to innumerable songs of heartbreak, would his album narrator be such a hopelessly romantic figure?
The lyrical tear-fest is beautifully matched with synthesiser tension, new romantic percussion and power ballad progressions. Bang in the middle comes ‘Waking Up Crying’, featuring a stellar performance from rapper Bones. It sounds like an incongruous inclusion, but throwing Bones’ tougher point of view into the mix offers welcome respite from Telafone’s devout desperation.
There’s a sci-fi twinkle to the instrumentation, which suggests there’s more to this relationship than a simple ‘boy meets girl at the pub and proceeds in an ongoing courtship’ scenario.
Then again, isn’t there something unique about all of our relationships that convinces us that no-one else could’ve been through what we have? So perhaps such sounds are implemented to express Telafone’s disbelief at his entwinement in this unlikely love affair.
