Jeff Lynne – Acoustic Review

How does an artist bring the focus to the qualities of their songwriting? They record acoustic covers. Jeff Lynne has fair reason to do this. His talent as a writer is perhaps overlooked by the excessive brilliance of those Electric Light Orchestra hits. When this is not the case, it tends to be the sharp production he provides in his glory days that takes the credit. Acoustic, an unofficial compilation of his one-man-and-a-guitar style of playing, marks a sweet way of connecting with his heartfelt music. A short enough bootleg of songs which find Lynne armed with only an acoustic guitar. These are the fundamentals of song and have been for a long time. They provided country musicians a step into the charts and folk musicians a weapon which could kill fascists. For Lynne, it is a chance to highlight the parts of his music which go unpraised and unspoken.  

Highlighting the strength of his voice and the mesmerising playing style is a stretch easier when we can hear Lynne without the strings and synth which defined his best efforts. Some of those feature within, stripped back by Lynne, who finds a new love for pieces like Roy Orbison’s It’s Over and ELO song, Evil Woman. How different these original songs feel when lacking their electronic purpose. Lynne does a tremendous job of conceiving the song with a new flourish. They lose very little, if any, of the heartfelt notions heard on original recordings. A deeper octave for Can’t Get It Out of My Head brings about a singer-songwriter sense. The hammered acoustic guitar, the romantic rejuvenation found in the death of a relationship, that is what Acoustic can offer long-term listeners.  

These are short and sweet pieces where, without the melody breaks and instrumental stop-offs, are short, ballad-like pieces. They work even better, at times, in this acoustic form because the story is not shrouded by this need to entertain the pop markets. Lynne speaks a truth which can only be heard when the layers around it are peeled back. Ordinary Dream continues this quality. Later pieces on this compilation feature Richard Tandy with a beautiful piano addition. It steals away from the tremendous, stripped-back qualities of the earlier songs on this piece, but it is necessary for the likes of Evil Woman and Strange Magic. The longevity of their working relationship is endearing, and their back-and-forth is showcased brilliantly here, even if the piano work is a bit overwhelming.  

Short and sweet efforts like Save Me Now and compilation closer Livin’ Thing are neat surprises. Lynne rarely performs these songs with an acoustic lead, and to hear some of the ELO classics performed without all the bells and whistles which make them part of pop rock history is a welcome experience. Strong material made stronger still by Lynne sharing the qualities of his voice. He has a fine and effective quality to his songs which are masked well by the production values he is clearly more interested in. But should the day come that Lynne finds himself locked in a room with provisions, an acoustic guitar, and a working microphone, audiences may find themselves delighted by another side of the veteran songwriter.