Gaz Brookfield - 'Waiting For Wisdom' Album Review

Sean Friswell
Aug 2
4 min read

Tracklist:

R.I.P. Inner Me
Ship In A Bottle On A Ship
Caravan Bingo
Plot Twist
Waiting For Wisdom
The Dance Of Ned Fallor
One Final Lullaby
Surely You Know
Sing With Me
Admin

Gaz Brookfield’s 10^th album finds the Folk/Punk troubadour in a reflective mood as he approaches his mid 40’s.

In today’s musical climate it’s a pretty impressive feat to get to studio album #10, even more impressive when you are essentially a one man operation: musician, manager, roadie (most of the time) label owner and merch person). For those of you that have never heard of the name or the music Gaz has built up a loyal following with his infectious songs full of everyday tales and life experiences that people easily relate to.

'Waiting for Wisdom' see’s Gaz in a reflective mood as he reaches his mid 40’s - for a lot of us that are of similar age it seems at this is the point we start to become more aware of our own mortality and become more reflective of life. 'Waiting for Wisdom' opens up with 'R.I.P. INNER ME' which caught me by surprise when I first heard it with its piano touches that felt almost jazz like. Soon enough the song gets going and it has a really nice swing feel to it.

An Interesting opener but it works really well as it sets up 'SHIP IN A BOTTLE ON A SHIP' I’m just gonna say it right here, this song should be on radio as its so damn catchy – Trusty old sidekick Ben Wain delivers some cracking fiddle hooks that really propel the song along, do yourself a favour and check out this number on Gaz’s bandcamp page. 'CARAVAN BINGO' is a good punk number that I’m pretty sure you’ll find yourself smirking at some of the mental images Gaz creates. It’s nice to see Gaz grow with each album as there is some nice new vocal things in this track that shows his progression.

'PLOT TWIST' slows things down with its melancholy feel, this is one of the songs where Gaz is just brutally honest about his struggles and how it's affected him. For anyone who’s suffered with mental health issues it’s a song that you’ll easily be able to identify with, there’s a lot of nice instrumentation going on here. 'WAITING FOR WISDOM' opens with gentle strummed guitar and either a Xylophone or Glockenspiel playing a nice melody, there’s a hell of a lot of emotion in this song both musically and lyrically as Gaz confronts getting older and all the issues that come with it.

For those of you that actually buy physical media and especially vinyl 'THE DANCE OF NED FALLOR' opens what would be side 2. This a cracking song with one hell of a swing feel to it and I’m sure you’ll all find find different meanings to the lyrics so I’m not gonna even try to explain this one (it’s one of the great things about songs as often people will find different meanings). When Gaz drops a song like this it just makes you want to turn up the volume and hit repeat when the song is done. The subtle organ and electric guitar work sit perfectly in the mix here alongside Gaz and that’s without mentioning another one of Ben Wain’s Fiddle Hooks.

'ONE FINAL LULLABY' is written about Gaz’s beloved Beagle Rueben who passed away. For those of you that don’t know Rueben often caused carnage during Gaz’s lockdown video streams by either barking through songs at inappropriate times, knocking over camera stands or my personal favourite, dropping his guts causing Gaz to choke and have to stop the song as he couldn’t continue. For those of us that have had pets and lost them its something we’ll all have to confront at some point and Gaz writes a song that pet owners will all be able to relate to, I’ll own it, when I first heard this song, having met Rueben I ended up having a couple of tears as this a beautiful tribute to Rueben. The Pedal steel guitar on this track adds lots of emotional depth to this song.

'SURELY YOU KNOW' changes the mood with its faster pace and some interesting subtle vocal effects. Again, this is another song where the subject matter could be applied to many different people who believe what they are doing is good when in reality their actions are just hurting people. The chorus on 'Surely You Know' is really catchy and by the end of the song I’ll defy you top not be singing along – This is Gaz at his best delivering really catchy lines.

'SING WITH ME' is classic Brookfield, a swinging song upbeat song that just makes you want to smile and either bounce around or if you’re sitting down tapping that foot. 'Sing With Me' is about being thankful to the people that have helped you get where you are today. 'Waiting for Wisdowm' ends with the very reflective 'ADMIN'. It’s safe to say that the subject matter on 'Admin' is going to become more relevant as this writer gets older (that’s for sure ha ha).

In this day and age of playlists etc it’s refreshing to have an album like 'Waiting for Wisdom' that takes you on a journey full of subject matter that you can relate to. What is clear about this album is that Gaz has put a lot of time and effort into how this album is presented, sure you can listen to the songs individually, but it just isn’t the same. 'Waiting for Wisdom' is an album that to really be appreciated has to be listened to as an album.

So, with this being Gaz’s 10^th album where does it rank amongst the others? That’s hard to say because Gaz doesn’t just write a bunch of songs and sling them on an album, they are always snap shots of his life and the things he’s experienced. It’s kinda like asking someone who their favourite kid is. With 'Waiting for Wisdom' it feels like middle aged Gaz has learnt to accept who he is through his songs and in turn wipe the slate clean ready for what comes next. If you haven’t ever heard of Gaz Brookfield do yourself a favour and go check him out.