‘THE ONE I LOVE THE MOST’ | KYLE FALCONER REVISTS SONGS OF BYGONE
ALBUM REVIEW | KYLE FALCONER – THE ONE I LOVE THE MOST by Anne Kelly
If there is one thing that Kyle Falconer isn’t short of, it’s songs about the female muse. So, when The View frontman decided to acoustically re-imagine and record a selection of these tracks for his third solo album effort, there were filtrating decisions to be made. With a firm brief now in place, the 13 tracks which would make the album would be exclusively those which featured a girl’s name in the title. The One I Love The Most (a lyrical reference to ‘5 Rebecca’s’ by The View) arrives just in time for Valentine’s Day and is an uplifting collection of music which will make you fall in love with endearing lyricism of Kyle Falconer.
Of the 13 songs that made the cut, only 1 of those is actually a ‘new’ release for Kyle; ‘Angelina’, which so happens to open The One I Love The Most. An orchestral theatrical number, ‘Angelina‘ explores a relationship brought to ruins by oppositional perceptions of reality. Speaking to Northern Exposure ahead of the release, Kyle shared that ‘Angelina’ is a song which has actually been with him a long time. Written back in 2012 as ‘Where Do We Stand’, the label rejected the song which was deemed too theatrical for The View. The song never made it to official release, however, given the opportunity to revisit for this record, it was actually Kyle’s young daughter who injected fresh inspiration into the track which would become the Angelina we hear on this record.
Throughout the album we are taken on a non chronological journey of Kyle’s songwriting highlights from both his solo and The View discography. From The View, there are releases from all 6 albums making the final cut and some have actually come out better for it. ‘Claudia’ from their breakthrough debut Hats Off To The Buskers is a refreshing take on the fan favourite. A common theme which will run through this review is how much Kyle’s vocal abilities have matured and improved in the near 20 years since the ‘Same Jeans’ days transformed his life forever.
Easily a personal highlight of the record is the new rendition of 2009’s ‘Gem Of A Bird’. One of a few tracks which really come off better than it’s original, ‘Gem’ gets the heart it always deserved. As Kyle himself told us, the original was admittedly a throw away track at the time that he can’t even listen to his vocals on it anymore. What really makes the song come to life though if the beautiful harmonies added by Scottish singer/songwriter Neeve Zahra. The song ‘Penny’ is similar in that respect, taken from The View’s 2015 album Ropewalk the track has received a glorious glow up. Proving to probably be the most difficult to strip back and start again with, the final result slaps with a foot tapping wallop.
‘Blondie’ doesn’t really add much in terms of improvement but it does offer a comforting familiarity. In comparison, ‘Blondie‘ has been slowed right down which captures an emotive quality that perhaps The View rendition didn’t have. ‘Grace’ may be the best known track on The One I Love The Most, however it doesn’t particularly stand out for me. Perhaps because it’s a song so well established on it’s own or perhaps because it’s been stripped back in live sessions before, so it doesn’t have much repeat listening appeal that other tracks on here do. However, the track is played in an octave even higher than the original and as a result it really shines a light on Kyle’s much improved vocal quality.
‘Dixie‘, from The View’s latest endeavor Exorcism Of Youth (2023) didn’t really bring anything fresh with it either. Written with Scottish songbird Rianne Downey, it was a stand-out moment of the 2023 album, however, it’s appearance here just doesn’t have the same effect. Bringing the tempo down a good few levels leaves it lacking in the energy which made it bop in the first place. Thankfully, the next song on the track listing is a belter of a rendition; ‘Rebecca’ from 2009’s Which Bitch? and it feels just as good as it always had. I think what I love most about this album is being able to hear lyrics with clarity that some of these songs never really had in their original recording back in the day and ‘Rebecca’ is absolutely one of those songs, creating some lovely sing-a-long moments which will really come to life played to a crowd.
Falconer’s solo efforts have traditionally been acoustically richer than The View’s usual soundscape, so hearing the tracks from the first two solo albums on The One I Love The Most are not drastically different, yet still manage to shine as something refreshing. From 2018’s solo debut No Thank You we revisit ‘Lily-Anne’, ‘Kelly’ and ‘Madonna’.
“It was the first album that I ever produced on my own (No Thank You). We only really had our engineers and I remember just using what I had but I didn’t really know much about different sounds. It was sort of 60’s, old school sound” reflected Kyle in our exclusive interview last week and it’s evident listening to these tracks that his skills have matured. On ‘Madonna’, a song about his late parents, he uses this experience to produce something with true sentiment. “I kept thinking that track could have been a bit more meaningful” Kyle continues, “so when I recorded it on this, I just slowed it right down and I think it’s more effective; there’s a lot more meaning behind the song.”
Since releasing No Love Songs For Laura back in 2021, the album has since been developed into the soundtrack for a stage musical co-written by his wife, Laura Wilde and Johnny McKnight; No Love Songs, which has been a highly acclaimed success for the couple. Lifting ‘Lucy’ and of course, ‘Laura’ from this one, Kyle reclaims the music away from it’s now theatrical association. ‘Laura‘, strips things right back and like many of the songs on this album, brings a deeper emotional connection too. ‘Lucy‘ is just lovely. Retaining the lullaby charm, the track is probably the most drastically different thanks to the introduction of PROSE. The Manchester based rapper brings his razor sharp rhythmic flair to the make up, heightening the narrative of the song.
In theory, The One I Love The Most may just be a covers album on the surface for Kyle; covers of his own songs nonetheless, however it’s probably the artists most esteemed to date. What this record does is re establish Kyle away from the notoriously perceived “wee guy from The View” (aka “the same jeans guy”) to a prolific highly valued and gifted songwriter, and he always has been. By revisiting these songs – some 15-20 years after they first went from pen to paper – stripping them right back to basics allows Kyle and his storytelling talents to really shine in a way that hasn’t been tried before. A transitional album, not only from a performance perspective, but in a sense of independence and that is monumental in itself.
No Love Songs For Laura is out today which coincides with the beginning of Kyles extensive instore signing and performance tour, details below.
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