Simon J Jones: How Things Work

Simon J Jones – How Things Work

Independent – Out Now

Harp and a Monkey’s multi-instrumentalist (harp, guitar, viola and harmonium) Simon Jones beguiles and charms with his first solo release inspired by vintage Ladybird Books. And like those treasured childhood tomes, this is an object lesson in restraint and the beauty of simplicity. Endearingly echoing favourite folky 60s and 70s children’s TV theme music, underneath there is a master craftsman at work.

Ladybird Books have recently risen again to popular prominence through a series of spoof versions, superficially amusing but without much lasting value. That’s a great contrast to the original book series, which informed and educated children on diverse subjects for decades in a straightforward unpatronising way.

The series was quietly subversive too. Ladybirds’ commissioning editor Douglas Keen considered himself to be a Marxist, emphasizing subjects such as public services, free education, libraries and healthcare. Ahead of the times, the books were never made ‘for him’ or ‘for her’; they were gender-neutral, with no colour schemes employed to guide girls or boys to a particular subject.

It was the quality of these tiny but perfectly-formed books that inspired Simon to form an album around them. ‘One of the things that both myself and my children have always loved about Ladybird Books,’ he says, ‘is their commitment to a distinctive and understated quality – both in terms of the narrative content and the oft unique visual aesthetic. I hope this collection captures something of that spirit and manages to do it justice.’

The resulting album definitely evokes the essence of these mini-masterpieces. Opening with The Computer, Simon creatively lifts the words directly from the 1971 book of the same name and weaves them into a song. It captures the wonder of burgeoning computer technology that took humans to the moon and back. Ending with the sound of a dial-up internet log-in, there are large dollops of nostalgia like this throughout the album. But it always stays on the right side of twee, remaining comforting and delightful.

With the hundreds of Ladybird books featuring a myriad of topics, How Things Works sticks to factual, reference subjects covering technology, nature, history, transport and literature. There are two mini-biographies – again with text adapted directly for the book pages – about Charles Dickens and Michael Faraday.

Dickens’ tune is propelled by a jaunty hand-clap backbeat, with the simple refrain of ‘Charles Dickens’ seemingly grafted in from an old gramophone. It manages to be enlightening and amiably melancholy at the same time, something the books excelled at. The song manages to cover much of the celebrated novelist’s backstory in under two-and-a-half minutes. Meanwhile, Faraday’s life is told acapella featuring Simon’s sweet multitrack backing vocals. An amusing analogue approach to celebrate a scientist who, as Simon sings, ‘Spent 20 years making electricity.’

For three of the major tracks – What To Look For In Spring, Royal Mail and Navigation At Sea – Simon (also an international award-winning photographic artist and animator) has created accompanying animated films (there may be more to come). These serve to further bring the songs to life and are appropriately minimalist and evocative. If you want to start anywhere with the album, these brilliant little films will set you on the right course.

This is an album that gently draws – rather than drags – you in, very much in the style of legendary folk artists such as Nick Drake and Vashti Bunyan. It’s a delight from start to finish, celebrating simpler times but with the pioneering spirit of the Ladybird books. Creating stories and soundscapes that seem very current but are somehow timeless, How Things Works is a significant artistic achievement.

Order via Bandcamp: https://simonjohnjones.bandcamp.com/