Ottawa Sun
November 1, 1996
Returning To His Roots
by Ben Rayner
In an age when too many greying musicians seem determined to destroy Rock And Roll once and for all with their endless tours through the land of self-parody, Robyn Hitchcock plans on growing old gracefully.
At 43, the eccentric British singer-songwriter has all-but-abandoned the Rock-ist leanings evident in his earlier work with 1970s-era not-quite punksters The Soft Boys and his recently disbanded group, The Egyptians.
While those bands traded in a warped brand of Beatlesque Acid Pop, Hitchcock's latest album, Moss Elixir, and his current tour with Billy Bragg (which brought him here last weekend, when we caught up with him) find him exploring a bare-bones, largely acoustic approach to Folk songcraft.
"I just don't like seeing middle-aged people playing Rock music. There are very few who can get away with it," explained Hitchcock last Friday night at Barrymore's.
"But I was never really that much of a rocker. In origin, I was rather a folkie. And now I'm, sort of, going back the way I came."
The path back to his Folk-club origins has led Hitchcock to cast off some of the Rock And Roll trappings he feels were "obscuring" the songs on the last couple of Egyptians albums, Respect and Perspex Island.
He no longer works with a full band -- in fact, only violinist Deni Bonet accompanies him on the current tour -- and diligently avoided going overboard with production values on Moss Elixir.
"Production is as important as the recording artist on so many records," Hitchcock says. "It has a, kind of, sheen. A patina. You can almost lick it off the record like you would lick the sugar off a donut.
"It's seductive, and it works well for certain people. But I don't think it works for me."
Soon, his stripped-down stage shows will become "a real art-house movie" directed by Jonathan Demme.
Fans of Hitchcock's work with The Egyptians will have to content themselves with seeing him perform solo from now on.
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