“I can paint it red

And you can say it’s blue

These colours change the view”

…So begins the chorus of this, the second single to be taken from Anglo-French singer-songwriter Michael Baker’s forthcoming third LP. I feel a bit like a broken record saying this – but seeing as I only write about things that I think are great – Caught in the Crossfire is a wonderful song. It’s also another of those tracks where the first thing I came into contact with was the artwork, and I was so hoping that the music would live up to it. I mean, look at how beautiful an image that is! I don’t need to hear another note. Sign me up.

The forthcoming album was recorded over the lockdown period with long time friend & Lucy Rose band member, Andrew Stuart-Buttle. It speaks volumes for Baker’s prolific workrate that they’ve used this period to write, record, and self-produce a ten-track album, as well as begin (in July) recording its follow-up. I should also mention that his previous LP, the acclaimed Salt, was only released in March of this year.

“It’s about being caught up in it all… and about how one moment of kindness spreads like the roots of a tree… and that colour can change your view and make you look out differently”.

Michael Baker on Caught in the Crossfire

Possessing a beautiful simple motif played on piano and in unison with what sounds like a vocal and guitar, Caught in the Crossfire is the kind of song that feels like waves gently lapping on a shore. The song opens with the warmth of an acoustic guitar playing simply and elegantly, with chords punctuated by rootsy hammer-ons and slides, before Baker’s vocals fall into place. The feel is one of stillness, like a moment of calm stretched out for the near-four minute duration. I love the fragile nature of the dampened piano – which is beautifully recorded – as well as the fluidity of the bass, and the way that the vocal slips into falsetto in the second verse. To return to the waves analogy I used above; much as no two waves that land upon the shore are the same, elements keep changing slightly with each repetition – first the delicate falsetto, then a verse backed with full harmonies, and finally the way the song seems almost to retreat for the final verse. Nothing is too showy either. In the press release that accompanies the track, Baker talks about how – for the piano specifically – he ended up blindfolding himself and feeling his way around the keys in order to take the musicality out of it. I like that, and it’s pretty indicative of the song as a whole too; everything is understated and just washing in and out as and when it feels like it.

As ever, I’ve gone and got myself carried away talking about waves and stuff. At this point the best thing you can do is pop on some headphones, hit the play button below, close your eyes, and just let yourself get swept away. Caught in the Crossfire is as fine an example of classic songwriting as you’ll find today, and Michael Baker is a major talent. With two records behind him and an awful lot of other material on Spotify, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

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