Teddy Thompson at The Masque

This is a happy record,” Teddy Thompson says of his new Verve Forecast release A Piece of What You Need. “Well, maybe not happy, but upbeat. Actually, maybe not upbeat, but it does have some up-tempo songs! Anyway, it's as close as I've gotten to making the record I've always wanted to make.”

Indeed, happy or not, A Piece of What You Need — Thompson's fourth album overall and his third for Verve — is the London–born, New York–based artist's most ambitious and accomplished effort to date, showcasing his formidable vocal, songwriting and guitar talents while venturing into rewarding new musical and lyrical territory.

Thompson's trademark blend of catchy songcraft, pensive emotional insight and good–natured black humor is present on such new tunes as “In My Arms,” “What's This?!!,” “Don't Know What I Was Thinking” and the bittersweetly fatalistic “Turning the Gun On Myself.” The album's effortless pop sensibility is matched by a playful sonic palette that incorporates such aural surprises as the careening brass band on “Can't Sing Straight” and “One of These Days,” or the Hitchcockian orchestral rushes that haunt the cinematic “Jonathan's Book.”

Thompson, son of folk-rock legends Richard and Linda Thompson, developed his musical drive early in life and launched his first band while still in his early teens. By the time he released his self-titled solo debut in 2000, he'd served a stint in his father's touring band and contributed guitar and vocals to his dad's albums You? Me? Us? and Mock Tudor. He subsequently co-produced and played on his mother's 2002 comeback disc Fashionably Late, and toured as a member of Rosanne Cash's backing band.

Support from David Ford:

David Ford is a British singer-songwriter, currently living in Eastbourne, East Sussex. He first achieved prominence with the indie rock group Easyworld, who released an independent mini-album, …Better Ways to Self Destruct and two full-length albums on Jive Records before disbanding in 2004.

Ford branched into a solo career soon after, and has become known both for the sheer passion he puts into his songs, but also for being a master at the layered/looping effect he brings to many of his songs. He now has a large following having released two albums and toured extensively in the UK and US.

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