Davey Woodward - The Bristolian (2026) Hi-Res

This is the album that inspired the very well received Top Ten Saddest Songs Ever… (Davey Woodward Says) piece, in which I said it includes ‘some of the saddest songs I’ve ever heard’. There are some lighter ones: love letters to Bristol, but it could well be Davey Woodward’s equivalent to (Lou Reeds monumentally sad masterpiece) Berlin. Finally, says Ged Babey, he can be completely and utterly absolved for writing the most irritating indie-pop song of all time as a young man.

This is an album to treasure. A ‘career-best’ but almost by accident. It’s all the thoughts and memories rattling around your brain, keeping you awake at night, somehow turned into the most perfect, beautiful songs.

It’s inevitable I guess, a proletarian rhapsody / Well, we all got greedy, you got to have it, well I don’t need it…

Some-one had to write a song called Proletarian Rhapsody eventually. I’m only surprised it has taken this long…

I’m a latecomer to Woodward’s brilliant post-Brilliant Corners output. it started with Karen – the band- in 2022 and last years Mumbo in the Jumbo was a slow-burning, ‘grower’ and an idiosyncratic work by a great, under-rated artist. Dylan and Reed inspired songs full of character, a strange beauty and wonderful simplicity,

The Bristolian is completely different and the most compelling and complete album you will hear. Woodward explains.

“I’ve been recording electronic soundtracks for decades but never released any of them. I can’t imagine how many hours of playing, recording, deleting, editing and listening went into making these sounds. Recently I returned to some of these musical pieces and added guitar, bass, then vocals or spoken words. I replaced some of the electronic orchestral parts I’d played with real strings, trumpets, and real drums. I took time in the studio to get the real instruments to compliment the electronic sounds.

Because I also love spontaneity, some songs came from improvised moments. Creating a song like this still feels magical to me. I can’t really explain how this happens, it just happens! This album is a mix of intensely thought-out music and the instant.

Because the places and relationships detailed in the songs actually exist, there is a conceptual feel to the record. Maybe it could be the soundtrack to a film not yet made? The Bristolian is about my town, but it could be your town, your relationships and your story too.”