James Scott howes
is a bit of a Leicester legend,
Having been part of the arts/music
scene for a very long
time.
Fronting a variety
of metal/punk rap bands
and his spoken word Poetry.
As a live act James takes
every aspect of these different
artworks
and combines them perfectly
into a wonderfully powerful
confident
stage performance
that amazes with its aggressive delivery
of beauty and
honesty.
The first time I saw James live,
he literally gave me a
panic attack.
His words so powerful
and his delivery tore through my emotional
core
like a jet engine through a cloud.
My vaporous emotions
were scattered
into the wind behind.
But as time went on
the words started to take hold,
I saw
him many times after this
and each time I'd see/hear something unique
and
delicate in this ferocious energy.
But can his work leap
like a stage diver from the stage onto
the page?
Will it still have that same intensity
and will it hold up under the
scrutiny?
In a single word. Yes.
In two simple words bloody yes!
Stripped of its delivery
this is like a metal band
taking on
an acoustic tour,
you realise that all along the theatrics
were one aspect but
beneath them
lay something so much more.
Honesty and beauty.
James has one of the most powerful vocabularies
I've heard
on the scene,
but never needing you to delve into a dictionary
to understand
the meaning behind his words.
So perfectly picked, with rhyme, charm
and humour
shining through every couplet.
One of the absolute stand out poems
and one I've had the joy
of hearing countless times is 'Listen Lads'
Which really delves into this whole toxic
boys will be boys culture,
it hits you like a brick In
its sheer honesty
and it's view of men.
And it is so refreshing
to hear this from a man.
And this all brings my first point
about this book.
We have a lack of male poets
who are willing to delve deep
into themselves,
years of toxic masculinity
and fake bravado has made us too
scared
to say at times we are not well,
we feel insecure, we are lost.
That the
world is getting too much.
James has an honest open discussion
with us the reader about
all of these feelings,
Things we should be talking about nationally
if not
internationally. If this world is going to become
a better place, then men need
to start to learn
to express their feelings, without fear of what
other men may
say or think.
We can be, and need to be better,
what better way to begin
than by understanding
the problems that have plagued us
generation after
generation.
I also want to highlight the amazing
way the book looks,
it's hard to make a poetry book stand out in a crowd
of other poetry books. But
this collection,
with its contrasting titles and full page
black and white
photos really does feel
like it's earnt its place on the shelf.
I am not going to discuss any more
of the work in this book,
I want you to be as surprised
and excited as when you see
a great movie or hear
a prized album
for the first time.
But what I will say is very simple.
Buy a copy.
Don't THINK about buying a copy,
Don't add it to a list.
Just click confirm. You won't regret it,
even if you believe you don't enjoy
poetry,
this is poetry that everyone can gain from.
Buy it here
Thanks for reading.
Peace, Love & Poetry
Kyle
