Paul Jenner, the Ealing-based artist behind 50mething, is back with “Silence,” released March 7th – timed just before International Women’s Day alongside two other songs. The subject is women’s safety on the streets, written in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard in the UK. Jenner describes an image that stuck with him: a body hidden, unseen, left until discovered. A girl local to him went missing and was later found in a river. The song is his way of keeping that in the forefront rather than letting it get brushed under the carpet. At 58, recording everything at home on a 24-track digital recorder and sending it out through SoundBetter for mixing and mastering by Sefi Carmel, he’s got 70 tracks in the catalogue and is releasing them gradually. I covered his previous single, “You Can’t Tear It Up” – another song that used bright, danceable music to carry a serious message.
“Silence.” further illustrates the uniqueness of 50mething‘s style, where whimsical and almost cartoonishly colorful and beautiful musical accompaniment shares the stage with lyrics that are thematically powerful yet address serious topics. On paper, it might seem gimmicky or that it detracts from the impact and seriousness of the lyrics, but it absolutely doesn’t – it’s executed with supreme taste.
The contrast is the whole point, and Jenner clearly understands that. His own take on his approach is worth quoting: “The detail is in the storytelling. Too much stuff gets reported on and then forgotten about. It’s important to keep things in the forefront if we want to see change.” Two songs in, that’s exactly what 50mething is doing.