Press

Jez Lowe is a much-travelled, much-covered singer and songwriter who has released twenty-plus albums of original songs over the last forty years, earning himself a loyal following along the way as well as a raft of awards and nominations. His songs have been recorded by over seventy of his peers, ranging from “old guard” acts like Fairport Convention, The Dubliners, Wizz Jones, Cherish The Ladies, The Tannahill Weavers, Gordon Bok, Mary Black and Bob Fox, to the newer breed pf performers like The Unthanks, Megson, The Young Uns and The Duhks. He was also a principal writer on the award-winning BBC Radio Ballads series and is a regular presenter on BBC Radio Four’s “Open Country” programme.
   He continues to record and tour world-wide, sometimes solo, sometimes with his band The Bad Pennies, and in collaborations with fellow-artists such as James Keelaghan, Steve Tilston and The Pitmen Poets.
   In addition to his work as a broadcaster and commentator, he will shortly be publishing the fifth in his series of novels inspired by the folk tradition and social history of his native North-East England.
   Jez Lowe’s latest album, his fifteenth collection of original songs, entitled “Oubliette”, has received outstanding reviews from across the folk music world, and was hailed by Fatea Magazine as “destined to become a folk classic in the top echelons of Jez’s already illustrious and extensive canon.”

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REVIEWS:

Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2025

The North East has long produced its share of troubadours, and Jez Lowe sits comfortably among the very best of them. A songwriter’s songwriter, he has spent decades marrying wit, politics, and melody into songs that feel both timeless and fiercely of the moment. Tonight, in the intimate setting of the Ukrainian Community Centre, he reminded everyone exactly why he’s held in such regard.
 
There’s something in the Lowe name. While not related to his more famous musical cousin Nick, Jez shares that same knack for wrapping sharp observations in deceptively simple song structures. His gift lies in the detail: lyrics that sneak up with humour, only to leave you winded with the truth.
 
The setlist was a finely balanced mix of old favourites, playful turns, and powerful new material. Free Bodies Wake and Old Man’s Eyes opened with a contemplative weight, before the new title album track Oubliette and the Bad Pennies throwback Latch Key Lover loosened the room with nostalgia and knowing smiles.
 
The most striking moment of the night came with a new song, Hardanger Engel. Stark, economical, and devastating in its understatement, it tells of a migrant child’s body washed ashore after a sinking in the Channel. Stripped of sentimentality, its quiet dignity brought a hush over the room—one of those rare performances that will linger long after the applause fades.
 
Light returned with the charming Message From a Mandolin, while The Frozen Roman proved to be an unexpected delight—wry, funny, and delivered with Lowe’s signature twinkle. And then came the closer: Barry and the Anthracites, a rollicking, tongue-in-cheek finale that had the audience clapping along, laughing at the sly wordplay, and spilling out into the night with grins intact.
 
Jez Lowe remains on fine form—funny, biting, and deeply moving, often within the span of a single song. A night that proved once again that the North East’s finest voice hasn’t lost an ounce of its fire, nor his ability to make a small room feel like the centre of the world.
 
****
Reviewed by Steve H
Venue Ukrainian Community Centre
Time 10.30
Until 17th Aug

 

FATEA MAGAZINE: Oubliette review 2025

I have never yet been disappointed by a Jez Lowe cd (and he’s released a good few!). And I’m not in any way disappointed by Oubliette. For this latest offering from one of the country’s premier singer-songwriters sees no drying-up of his seemingly inexhaustible wellspring of creativity. It contains a dozen new songs – well, strictly speaking 11, cos one (Elephant Rock) was originally written for a Badapple Theatre Company production back in 2019. Several of these have already been thoroughly road-tested and have quickly become live concert favourites – indeed, one (The Frozen Roman) sounds to have been recorded live for this CD.

So the new songs range – as is Jez’s wont – over unashamed affection and nostalgia for, and pride in, his native north-east; wistful, resigned and often sharp but always witty observations on how times have changed and the impact of contemporary society. Jez also reaches into his personal family history for the minor-key bluesy stride-piano-inflected Taggerman, while Chewy Moved tells a true story of a local Tyneside character. I love Jez’s use of the traditional idiom to highlight the tragic situation of cross-channel refugees (Hardanger Engel), his setting of the reassuring Sanctuary Land to a gorgeous waltz, and the animated love song to the speedy passing of youth Get Your Skates On, cannily wrapped up in a Northumbrian jig. Frozen Roman is masterly, a quasi-historical-cum-time-travelling romp cut from the same cloth as Vikings (and every bit as hilarious with its knowing juxtaposition of modern-day cultural references).

And Jez even makes songwriting gold out of one of the most disastrous experiences of his life, when a couple of years ago his car containing all his instruments and equipment, got stolen – the resulting A Message From A Mandolin is replete with generous, if wry humour, and proves one of the catchiest songs on the album!

I must also dole out extra plaudits for the exemplary, close-knit and imaginative support Jez commands from his Bad Pennies, in particular Kate Bramley’s magnificent violin work and Andy’s spirited piping, with David’s electric bass providing the necessary solid bedrock.

Virtually every one of these new songs hits the spot on first hearing, and I’m convinced that many are destined to become folk classics in the top echelons of Jez’s already illustrious and extensive canon.

David Kidman