Michael Webster is a singer songwriter based in Manchester and this is his sixth release on Bread Records. The a side Ibis Hotel has a great intro and reminded me of the guitaring on U2’s first album ‘Boy’, particularly the track Into The Heart. A raw but vulnerable sound and the melancholy feel is put out there immediately AND THEN……..Michael’s vocals come in and it’s dripping with emotion and solace. If Bob Dylan had been born and bred in Lancashire I have no doubt that he would have sounded like this, a lazy drawl but totally listenable and makes you want to play the song again and again to understand Michael’s story telling better. I’m cursing now-why haven’t I heard of Michael Webster before? Where the hell have I been? I’m informed that Ibis Hotel is a song inspired by a friend of his, who has been ill for some time now and sales of this single will be donated to a fundraiser set up for this friend so that she is able to live her life to the fullest post-lockdown. The b-side Collision Course is a cover of a song by Toria Wooff, a songwriter based in the North West who has also been raising funds for previously mentioned fundraiser. I’ve heard both Toria’s acoustic original song and now Michael’s electric version and both are awesome.
Give this single a listen and I guarantee you’ll want to play it again and again and again. https://open.spotify.com/artist/337KNnNPPHatcOU7epvTLT