I have a confession to make. One of the main reasons why I switched my week in Belgium from mid September to the beginning of October, was the fact that Tom Helsen was finally releasing a new cd (More than Gold). And another was that on 5 October, he was playing in the Handelsbeurs in Gent and I had already booked a ticket (this is why I love the internet).

Ehm, I stole these photos from the Handelbeurs website. I imagine they don't mind as they are the ones who published the cd...

Over the last two years, his previous cd, 'Tom is doing great' has always been the one I've played when I got homesick in the UK. Even though he sings in English (with a very slight Keerbergs accent), to me his music is quintessentially Belgian: simple but quirky, down to earth but inspired, no arrogance but no false modesty either. And Tom on stage is pretty much like that too.

A Tom Helsen concert is a laid back affair. There is no pushing and pulling, no bad opening act to make the headlining artist look better, there is no making everybody wait for ages. Tom comes on stage with hardly anyone noticing, asks 'Heeft iedereen het goed kunnen vinden?' (has everybody found the way OK?) because one of the band members got lost and just starts to play. Some people were a bit taken aback by this, but I thought it was very disarming.

As it was the presentation of the new cd, the set consisted mainly of new songs and I was very happy I'd listened to the cd a few times already, because even though some of them have instant appeal, their real genius only comes out after a few times. The catchy tunes initially manage to hide what a brilliant songwriter he is, and it takes a while before you realise that there is no song on 'More than gold' that does not have a sting in its tail.

The only criticism I can think of is that it's very clear that Tom Helsen is one man, not a group, and apart from the drummer the rest of the band did perhaps not get the five minutes of fame they deserved (and is it just me or did that one guy look a bit like a young Tom Waits?).

At one point Tom says that they came up with this 'novel idea' to put all good songs on the cd, instead of just one or two. I would say they have achieved just that. There are no bad songs on 'More than gold', just personal favourites (my personal top three: new single 'Out of something', 'Somewhere' and 'Rocket'.

Look at me, I'm gushing. I'd better stop before I embarrass myself even more.

Incidentally, if anyone has Tom Helsen's first cd (which seems to be impossible to find these days) let me know so I can come and beg you to let me have it...)