Henry Taylour is a folk artist from Oxfordshire in the UK. Having released 2 EPs, his third EP ‘Aftersun’ was described by Clash Magazine as ‘re-contextualising folk tropes while adding pop directness.’ Following a spell in East Africa, Henry’s debut album ‘A Relentless Pursuit of Happiness’, produced by Taylour and Ryan Samuel Bentley (Jake Bugg), was released in February 2025.
And that is from the press release, let’s dive into the album!
As soon as I pressed ‘play’, I got a little bit of a Bruce Springsteen vibe, but only for a moment. Henry is not raspy singing in a low register. Still, his voice is mellow, beautiful, melodic and calm, floating on top of the music. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not all he does; there are raspy moments in the album, as well as whispery tones, and stronger, more lyrical tones throughout, which make the album diverse enough to please fans of folk, but not limited to just that audience.
Frankly, this is one of the best albums I’ve listened to, in all my album reviewing endeavours. The production is ex-ce-llent. Happy to hear he is from Oxfordshire. My band and I are based in London, but we’ve recently discovered that there is a whole scene in the Oxfordshire area, ranging from punk to electro, and folk to metal. A very creative place, and now that I know this, I am not surprised at all that this gem of an album comes from here!
Let me be a bit clearer: when I say ‘folk’, I mean it in a more general, contemporary pop context (with 100% positive connotations on the word ‘pop’, you purists!)- as in the melodies are very user-friendly and accessible. I really like the more upbeat and slightly heavier (as in overdriven guitars, yay!) songs on the album, such as ‘Running’ and ‘A Relentless Pursuit Of Happiness’.
The only thing I couldn’t get enough of is:
- The string parts in ‘Still Trying’ blended with all the guitar layers – so beautiful!
- The more ambient, cinematic, textured vibes, like those in ‘Prologue’, ‘A Beautiful Life’, and ‘If I only knew’, which are the last three tracks of the album.
Seriously, if he hasn’t;t written music for a movie yet, someone should get him to do it. These sounds are beautiful and take you on a journey. I think, just in my personal opinion, that a little bit more of those elements would make this even greater and more interesting than it is. However, the album is still fantastic, and these were just the ramblings of a music production-obsessed person.
Go listen to the album!
Written by Spiros Maus
