Album Review: William The Conqueror - 'Maverick Thinker'
Beneath familiar trappings of blues rock and indie folk, ‘Maverick Thinker’ is an artful and introspective payoff to the ambitious William The Conqueror project - and an uplifting lockdown listen.
Frontman Ruarri Joseph is honest and vulnerable in his internal odyssey, while finding light in the melancholy truths he uncovers looking back at adolescence through mature eyes.
Joseph was thrown deep into adulthood at age 19 when he became a father, and the parallel journey of “William”, a fictionalised former incarnation of the songwriter, is explored in this third installment to the William The Conqueror trilogy, as well as a companion book and podcast.
Opening track ‘Move on’ is a gentle, stripped-back and decidedly grown-up introduction to the record, which ebbs between meditative ballads and stomping country rock tracks. We are given a series of dreamy images and vignettes, some of which draw the listener into the singer’s coastal childhood in 1980s Cornwall.
Lyrics like “you fell for the boy but you married the man” continue the throughline of the past two albums, dissecting the stages of life and the change of perspective that comes with age, inspired by the work of writer and poet Herman Hesse.
We’re on familiar terrain with “The Deep End”, which evokes Creedence Clearwater Revival with its swampy Southern Rock feel.
The idea of faith is a major theme in ‘Maverick Thinker’, following 2019’s ‘Bleeding on the Soundtrack’ and its rumination on disillusionment that comes after losing the innocence of youth, and is apparent in the album's religious references.
A stand-out track is ‘Jesus Died a Young Man’,(released as a single alongside Move On and Quiet Life) an iconoclast anti-bullshit anthem. “Can you tell it like it is man” Ruarri pleads, “please don’t keep it from the kids man.”
Recorded on the eve of the first lockdown in LA’s famous Sound City Studios (a week after Bob Dylan finished using the facilities for his latest album), the EP sits comfortably in the rock canon and pays homage to its blues forebears.
Backing from drummer Harry Harding and bassist Naomi Holmes, who also play a variety of other instruments throughout, elevate the songs beyond labels like Southern Rock or indie.
The world-weary ‘Quiet Life’ lets the album take a breath at it’s halfway point, with intimate acoustic guitar and piano, with the almost prophetic decree that “the world is gonna end”, before it finds another burst of adrenaline when Harding’s drums kick in again with ‘Wake Up’.
‘Fiction’ sees William at a crossroads, like Robert Johnson on the night he made a Faustian pact with the devil in Blues mythos, realising “I need to face up to the malice in my own reflection.” ‘Reasons’ is another energetic foot-tapping blend of Americana and Alternative Rock, with a lyrical motif that lockdown listeners will relate to “I wanna live before I die.”
Title track ‘Maverick Thinker’ is the band at it’s best. Starting with an acoustic feel reminiscent of the singer’s solo work, Ruarri’s velvet vocals are joined by an eclectic instrumental crescendo featuring an accordion, piano, and a wailing electric guitar solo.
The song closes the album with a serene sense of resignation, accepting the passage of time with nostalgia for past glory and the final words “grateful son” are a refreshing and tender endnote for the saga.
For those who want to further explore the Conqueror’s journey, the book (already out as an audiobook) expands on William’s story. It makes an interesting addendum to the album, with its opening scene contemporary with the albums eighth track with. Our protagonist is “Suddenly Scared (24 Stories High)” above London, battling a ruthlessly honest inner critic who mocks his metaphors and reminds him of childhood cringe. “This is all very nice” the voice jibes, “but I notice you haven’t mentioned anything about shitting yourself on a regular basis.”
The release of this final installment sees the band’s vision fully realised. Like their namesake, the story of William The Conqueror is sure to have staying power. Hopefully this isn’t the last we’ll hear from the trio, and the previous two albums are definitely worth a revisit in the context of the suite as a whole. With its mix of contemplation and self-belief, Maverick Thinker reminds us to learn from the past and not to dwell on what you can’t change.
Words by Joe Buncle