Category: Folk Music

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Album/EP Reviews Debut Folk Music Irish Nature Folk Scots Singer-Songwriter

Iona Lane – Hallival – Album Review

Released – March 25 2022

From beyond the rolling mist (and probably a few sheets of snow) the mountain of Hallival stands beautiful as a site of exploration, and in seeing it, a conquest of one’s own very ideas of beauty. Iona Lane’s debut album takes this beauty and transcribes it into a folky exploration (and a curious one) heavily inspired by the mountain on the island of Rum. Lane digs deep into Scottish folklore and legends and sets these delightful pictures to the wallpaper of the green, enigmatic landscape itself (with a beautiful, careful meshing). This mixing of inspiration and lore is a stirring, deep breath out and a fresh start to the year.

There are some interesting tracks to find here. 

“May You Find Time” is a good place to start. Being a kind of call for the restorative balm of nature and everything in it it breathes deeply in a refreshing way. Lane sings of wild baths, the building of nests and to“look for tides to take your sorrow”. Unashamedly bouncy and joyful, it is unsurprising if it will help to reappraise some of the simpler joys in your life.  

“Fingal & Bran” is one of those mythologically tickling tracks you get on a folk album. A song about the duo of giant and dog; it is a gentle affair that looks at the landscape and muses on the pair’s travails as they can be seen in the wondrous shapes of the hillside, the breath of the wild as we consider “causeways and caves and all things fade”. Lane’s voice has a kind of choral shadow here like a brambled hedgerow that darkens its poppier influences only to tracer sparks of the orchestral strings of classic folk. Slightly melancholy, its echoes and character harken to the delightfully exploratory path of Emily Portman with a fantastical darkness hiding in the potential energy of a cobra knot.

We also have a lot of time for “Mermaid”. Lane’s voice is smooth alongside the lament of the shruti drone.  Like all the best stories of yore, it concerns the family of the Macleods and how they got the Devil’s hands to help build Ardvreck Castle. The problem is that the father of the family refuses to sell his own soul to the Devil as a price but offers his daughter’s hand in marriage in return.The instruments are slightly unsettling and build atmosphere in the background to Lane’s seriousness. The tension ratchets up as it goes on. The track wears the spectral influences on its sleeves and invites you to imagine this moment of history while you look into Loch Assynt.  

Headspace is a beautiful and short addition to the album. Like the tapping of light fingertips to the cheeks it speaks as a love song to the gentle joy of happiness within. Its melody depicts the joyous feeling of a mind at rest, like a puppy with its playful tummy being tickled. The piano tinkles are a large-eyed enthusiasm, and the dancing strings of the guitar deck float in a gentle breeze; it is close to one of those ASMR videos with Lane’s softly spoken voice and positivity. This positivity oozes on to the following track, “Crossroads”, a sincere call for freedom that Lane wrote in response to history and how traditional instruments, music and dance have been banned across Scotland and Ireland at different times. 

All-in-all, the album is the essence of delicate nature and the energy within like a sun-filled day and a basket full of freshly washed laundry. Her songs are like the heaving clothes that splatter an intriguing, emotive water as they are heaved over Spanish floor tiles. There is a heartfelt construction and performance here which shines in the confidence of its debut status. It is also methodical, it does not rush to gorge the senses, but slowly enfolds from its creation and warms the listener. 

We love the range. As mentioned, Lane plays hopscotch with the natural world, stories and myths and a dash of history in the influences for the album and manages to keep the interest of each part in her sights. If this sounds up your street, you could do far worse than check out Iona Lane’s first album, a considered and strong entry into the world of folk. 

If you are interested in purchasing the album, we recommend purchasing direct from Iona Lane on BandCamp @ https://ionalane.bandcamp.com/releases

Categories
Album/EP Reviews Folk Music Folk Stories Mixed Genre Science

The Story Song Scientists – Quantum Lyrics (review)

Released October 2021

Sit up, science is about to begin! For those who like to follow the Roud index as much as the Alper-Doger Index, an EP is out which looks at some incredible stories of science, celebrating them in the warm halo of Findlay Napier and Megan Henwood. The stylings of Glaswegian Napier and bluesy-lyricist Henwood’s folk have combined into something both nerdy and musically beautiful, the likes we have not seen of any time in recent memory (except of course their first EP “Story Song Scientists”, of course). This fusion with its heart in experimentation goes some way to make us quicken from a slow meander to a quintessential sprint with purpose as we hear of some previously unheard human accomplishments from our history (and not all positive in nature).  

This EP contains crackly call-backs to yester-year, poetry and good old melodies whose quaint exterior masks the quite seismic effects on our history. Supported by the Arts Council these science stories spectaculaire are a potent mix of songwriting that is every bit the beauty of that potassium experiment you remember with all its fireworks (and less of what could be found behind the safety screen afterwards).

“Ode to the Man with the Man with the Golden Arm” is like a quick,friendly embrace with its gentle and softly spoken, 60s ballad influence. Describing James Harrison, a man with a rare antigen to Rhesus Disease in his blood, the song captivates with a folky, calling harmony and a melodic guitar pluck that quietly celebrates his accomplishment. On discovery of the antigen, Mr Harrison is purported to have saved 2.5 million babies in Australia by regularly donating blood every week for 60 years. The duo’s voices celebrate as a reverent singing whisper for an enormously generous human being; the track ripples its delicate butterfly wings in the Far East spreading its influences out. Like the calm, thoughtful works of Simon and Garfunkel, Napier and Henwood glow in awe with their captivating song style.

The idea behind the “The Anarchist Cookbook” is, of course, that book of legend whose reputation hadn’t dimmed in some circles I knew at school in the 90s. The recipes for such things as the construction of weapons, how to make LSD, and most famously, bombs were contained within. The spirit of the age is invoked as the song wonders how William Powell’s book could have affected the conscience of the author, “there is ink on my fingers, blood on my hands”. The juxtaposition of the damning lyrics with the dream-like guitar dissolves into a final chorus of clicks, static and growing synth drums that really sticks in that time-honoured tradition that the jolliest tunes are probably the most grim in content (just look at child ballads). Mirroring Mr Powell’s own regrets, the song is like a poorly maintained fairground. Breezy and fun, the danger lies beneath the surface in the track; it rises to the surface in the off-beat continuation of “Specimen 4 – TAC” (Track 8).

We also want to talk about “1800 and Froze to Death”. This delightful ditty is the catchy, sing-a-long blues number that we would normally find within Megan Henwood’s cabinet of music, and it being here serves the listener very well. The early track speaks of Mount Tambora’s eruption (the most powerful on Earth in 10,000 years) and how it created a climate catastrophe of famine and exceptionally cold temperatures. Clever rhyming with and charming interface between the two singers allows this song to flow as it talks about global, seismic changes to the world in the style of a guy out of work and down on his luck. Smoky and stylish like Henwood’s solo fare with a good eye on the word (as per Napier), this is worth taking pause for.

There are other tracks for you to mull over here, but without going into details it is safe to say that “The Story Scientists” has been a worthwhile experiment with everything here. Henwood and Napier’s voices are complimentary, the album is polished in production, and there have been some inspiring choices of science throughout.

If you are interested in the album it can be purchased from all good stockists, but as always we recommend you buy from the artists themselves at: https://meganhenwoodfindlaynapier.bandcamp.com/album/quantum-lyrics

Categories
Acoustic Blues Folk Music Trad Covers Traditional

5th March 2022- Phil Beer at Wesley Centre, Maltby

We have recently had the pleasure of visiting the opening night of “Wesley Centre Live”, a series of folk gigs that has started in Maltby. We wanted to share our experiences with you, for more information about upcoming gigs, go to https://www.facebook.com/wesleycentrelive/?ref=page_internal. 

Heading out in your car a little East of Rotherham you come to Maltby, and near to the centre of that there is the Wesley Centre. The Wesley Centre is a Methodist Chapel with it’s first references to worship being from a directory entry in 1832 and for this night it is the setting for “Songs of the Road”, a post-Covid solo gig by Phil Beer (from folk band, Show of Hands). Phil Beer is a great choice of the inaugural gig for meetup being a multi-instrumentalist who not only lived and played through modern folk’s golden age but is also a personable lively sort of individual who is an affable, early tonic for the recovering live music scene. 

We found The Wesley Centre to be a great modern space for folk gigs. On entry there is enough space to fit a good number of audience members without it being a cramped space (there was  around 80 for this gig with space for more), but not so large as to detract from the intimacy of the event. The whole thing started with a warm welcome from Nick Wilson, one of the organisers who seems to have a great passion for live music. The overall shared sentiment was that live music was returning and this was a very welcome return indeed.   

Following the introduction, Phil takes the stage. Phil himself has many years of experience on the music circuit from his individual endeavours, partnerships, and of course recognition in the Exter everyman band that is “Show of Hands”. During the gig he regaled tales from his travels, recalled the folk club that was resident in the building many years ago, and had a few gentle humours regarding the Romans and their roads. Beer was softly spoken and with his banter he came across as a person very much interested in history, the landscape and the enduring purpose of music (folk or not). This was apparent as he dedicated his last few songs to singers of late who had themselves been given these gifts of early song. The most notable of these mentions was, of course, for Norma Waterson who passed away earlier this year. 

The set itself was split across songs that Phil and Show of Hands are well known for (folk and folk rock), and later on a delve into the blues influences that made up, “The Blues Hour” that Phil was involved in during the height of Covid-19 restrictions. This spread meant that Phil was leaning into the genres he has most been interested in, ones he has performed in extensively.

Just about timely was Phil performing, “Fire and Wine”, a song steeped in the immersive imagery of the cold season with it’s references to Robin Redbreast seeking food, and “wine for the mind”. With its winding recall of “we will sing Jack Frost away”, and the hint of light through the grey, heavy clouds, it is a great introduction to what will be a first live gig for many people. You could say that Beer’s guitar opens this lively, descriptive number with the careful eye of a jolly watchmaker.  We also heard the succinct, emotive fiddle of “The Blind Fiddler”, a historical American song about a blacksmith who gives up his job after an unfortunate accident and becomes a traveller seeking to help others. Beer brings an old, desperate angst to the song alongside some beautiful violin playing that both rises above the canopy of a verdant forest and to the low levels of despair felt by a drunken reveller lay in the drains. 

Phil’s rendition of “Cocaine Blues”, as most songs of it’s type, has a sparkle in it’s guitar that belies the nature of its subject matter. It is a popular and well-received song by the audience whose reception is only eclipsed when Beer turns his attention to that stalwart sing-a-long work number, “Blow the man down”. Both are a joy to hear and an example of Phil rousing the audience without even having to ask. We also hear “The next Best Western” which was Phil’s interpretation of Richard Shindell’s number about lorry driving. That signature blend of Christian imagery and occupation shines as a more deliberate part of the evening that like the slow whistling of the dust from the Southern Plains caused the audience a moment of reflection and thought during the twilight part of night. 

Seeing Phil Beer again, and at the Wesley Centre, has been an enjoyable experience. In relatively uncertain times there is a smile to be had to hear the well-travelled Beer sing songs inspired from history of the world, and the history of songs themselves (from several foundational Blues numbers). Cosy and inviting, the Wesley Centre is a good venue for the purposes of folk music (as shown from history) and long may it do into the future. The magic is in how Beer’s words and songs recall decades ago but it feels literally like yesterday as his spirited showmanship brings them right up to date and into our hearts.


To find more information about Phil Beer, go to http://www.philbeer.co.uk/

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Animal Duo Folk Music Folk Rock Gig Modern Arrangement PR Singer-Songwriter

Carol Hodge and Birds & Beasts – 30 October 2021, Wainsgate Chapel, Hebden Bridge

Being (in probability), the most remote venue we have been to, outside of a music festival, we find the Wainsgate Chapel on the outskirts of Hebden Bridge really hits us in the face with it’s beautiful setting and stunning rural Yorkshire views. It is also our first post lockdown music gig in person (and our two year old daughter’s first ever gig) so there are equal parts of nervous expectation and blessed relief all round to seeing live music again. Some infant distractions aside, we are able to witness two beautifully performed 45 minute sets that blended into the old wooden eaves of the chapel in a delightful interplay of new and old.

This joyous embrace of old and new is witnessed in the first act. Carol Hodge sings and walks down from the church pulpit like navigating a smoke-filled staircase in a classy jazz bar. Known as the seven fingered songwriter, Carol Hodges plays a set with a voice and songs full of passion and delightful inner turmoil. Performing a set of songs that resonate with the theme of moving on from difficult situations, we find these insights are a perfect match for the beautiful, honest and from the heart lyrics. A singer-songwriter with several accolades, she has in recent months released her third album, “The Crippling Space Between”. 

Stand out numbers include,  “Fallibility”, a great addition to the set as one of those painfully honest Dear John letters in song form. Slightly less thrashing than the recorded version, it seeps an almost early 90s girl group earnestness (before it got swallowed up by “girl power”) that clatters with the sounds of soft metal and heavy rock. Hodge also impresses with, “Along for the Ride”, the wistful and optimistic piano-led track that uses cool pitch changes and chords that navigate a topic that weave between anger and acceptance like a loom weaving a Queen Band tea-towel. Distinctly musical and mildly dramatic, it would not be out of place in a stage musical involving motor-bikes and a rite of passage between being young and care-free (yeah!) to  a suburban life with lots of responsibilities (boo!).

Our favourite number that appears is “Curtain to Fall” which is an ode to everyone involved with the music industry whose work was affected by the lockdown. Naturally topical at present, it reminds us that nothing, not even Covid, can stop the music industry. Dwelling in the psychological gap left by musicians when their performance space is pulled from them; this could be a powerful addition to any musician’s playlist in their first post-lockdown gigs. With the hallmarks of that signature singer-songwriter number, it’s sadness and depth of conviction is a lens on this time and space; and however sad it makes us feel, we love it.

After the second break, we then return with the Birds & Beasts.

We will confess to already being massive fans of Birds & Beasts.  We first saw them perform whilst I was pregnant with my daughter, at another famous Hebden Bridge venue, so I am  excited for this follow up act. For those not in the know, “Birds and Beasts” are a Huddersfield-based folk-rock duo who write with animals in mind. The songs go beyond just animal inspiration though; they are interesting in that they are incredibly close to the lives of the beasts around and often the songs hold a mirror up between these and the human lives that are listening.

Here at Hebden Bridge they harken to the darker corners of the church with their presence. Anna and Leo’s set focuses on their more acoustic first album rather than the current hot property that is their second album “Kozmik Disko” that launched the previous weekend. It all works well.

The Birds and Beasts entertain with a collection of songs that brim over with that joyful 60s and 70s Summer vibe where the folk sounds call to the trees, the beaches and those vibrant places in the sun. There is a lot to like here including “Time Stands Still”, a song about a murder of crows lamenting the death of an elder. It is a song guaranteed to move anyone who has recently lost a loved one, it certainly hit a personal, moving chord with ourselves. The song features Anna beautifully playing a 22 string Irish harp with a chilling melancholy (which sadly had to be put away afterwards due to the cold temperature) . 

There are some other dreamlike numbers here such as “I May Fly”, a song not from their albums. It is a short, sweet and punchy song about what the mayfly can achieve in the small lifespan that it has. Like their other songs, this is an apt metaphor to our human lives and our own potential. It was so short that it made Blur’s Song 2 feel like a Greek epic in length. The song culminated in some excellent guitar playing by Leo. 

 “Medusa”  with it’s short, upbeat and catchy lines gives a hint of their new material to come (is it too early to get excited for a third album?); and “In The End” is an ode to being able to be with your loved ones again in the near future. In subject, it is about red deers in Ann’s homeland of Germany with the feeling that it equally applies to both the experiences of families divided by the Berlin wall, and the recent Covid lockdown that inspired it. It is performed with uplifting passion and a bright hope for the future, like many of their songs.

Leaving the gig feeling uplifted by a beautiful couple of hours of live music to get us through the drive home, we can’t wait to return to the venue for its next set of gigs in the new year. After all, in Carol Hodge’s words, “we will never be ready for the curtain to fall.”

For more information about Carol Hodge see her webpage here, and read about Birds & Beasts here.

Categories
Acoustic Album/EP Reviews Animal Duo Energetic Folk Music Folk Pop Folk Rock Folk Stories Nature Folk No Covers

Birds and Beasts – “Kozmik Disko” review

Like the thunderous hooves of an approaching stampede, Birds and Beasts’ second album is a groove-filled, thumping and purposeful sophomore album which puts it’s classic rock expertise to very good use.

Album Launch Date: 23/10/21

If you have been living in a cave for the past few years, then chances are, (without you realising) you have had a song or two written about you by a band  from the sunny uplands of West Yorkshire. This will not be due to your lack of up-to-date news about youth slang, or your dislike of music post 1982, but it might be because you are a bear. Let us explain.

The Huddersfield-based band “Birds and Beasts” are the duo of Anna and Leo Brazil who had an epiphany about nature and our relationship with it. By looking at the behaviour and lives of animals, they combine the daily struggles of being an ant (for example) with imagery and situations we recognise as part of being human too. This natural communion has served them well on their previous offering, “Entwined” and now, after returning from that shady glen, their second album is out called “Kozmik Disko”. 

There is a temptation for us of a certain age (or with children) to have apocalyptic visions of a rave style “Baa Baa Black Ship” or a Hard House version of “Nellie the Elephant” while a DJ plays sped-up samples from a BBC Wildlife documentary (I am almost certain that second track exists and I have danced to it). Thankfully, nothing could be further from the truth as “Birds and Beast” carefully knit a strikingly sharp cardigan which has shades of commentary, wry humour and great sounds, as a well-constructed work that does not take short cuts. It’s mastering at Abbey Road Studios have put a real magnetic luster on the already fine contents.  

Take track 4 “The Bloat”, for example. Here is a song about warring hippos in direct confrontation of a watering hole. A watery layer of classic rock, some chunky riffs and jazz undertones the scene plays out like one of those old film brawls with flailing arms and accusations calling out over the top. Think of the Barn Fight from “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” but instead taking place in a 1970s Discotek. The vocals compliment each other well, there is a little kick of a pace and the song is an example, as many are on the album, of the artists’ versatility. Much like the Cape Buffalo, a thoughtful exploration of one’s partnership can suddenly turn, the track snakes in one direction and then finds a new emotion and beat, Before you know it you have been a lead in to a music genre that has been skillfully smuggled and blended in.

“The Current” tells of a shark and it’s electrical impulses that lead it to food, friends and family. Like the strong guitars of Heart’s “Barracuda” (also another shark, of course), the song has a strong beating heart where the two guitar tracks interact which pushes it on. Clean guitars throughout and a nicely light drum compliment the upbeat glow of the singers’ voices. It warms the hands and feet like a gentle, coal fire. A fine example of classic rock, “The Current” takes a concise approach to describing the creature as it feels around the busy waters much like the electric anticipation of a live concert. 

“The Day I was Born” is even more radiant describing the sweeter side of love alongside the intoxicating role of the honey bee. More than ready to jump into a soft shoe shuffle, the track is full of platitudes such as, “I am yours, body and soul”. The honey bee here is chosen from birth to “marry” the Queen bee, and the human subject comparatively is more than smitten and in love. The sense of all life being preordained and the subject being strongly carried by the waves of fate presides through the number. While we listen there are the bouncy sensibilities of 60s boy bands powdered with the pollen of 80s new wave and rock as those awesome brief synth interludes put their head over the parapets. Colourful and joyous, the track grabs you like a rainbow bulldog clip and refuses to let go. Wherever Birds and Beasts travel through or end up at with their songs there are some extremely catchy segments and turns of phrase that indicate some well-placed confidence in the songwriting department.

The joy of the album is that there are obvious and easy choices taken here, the songs are written well enough to take a pummeling even by an individual with no knowledge of the natural world because the human factor is equally recognisable and celebrated alongside. For every eloping couple there is the song, “Wolfpack” about two wolves leaving the pack to start a new life; for every hero there is “Keep Walking” the ant who sacrifices communication and closeness with the rest of the hive in order to save them; and if that’s not analogous enough we get “Deep Down”, a scorpion’s tireless search to find a mate. True, there is a lot about love here, but not once do you have to sit down to dull the nausea. There is all sorts of love: obsessive love, romantic love, love through duty and the songwriters give each a proper examination in the light of their watchful eyes. It helps that everything from the album cover artwork (designed by the band), to the off-beat, bright, DIY style to the music videos add oodles of charm; no scrap that, noodles of charm all hugging together in an instant ramen cup.

One of our favourites from the album has to be “Silver Moon Array” where a hedgehog awakes a little early (mid)  hibernation and does not recognise the world he has stepped into. Incredibly atmospheric, you feel a shiver as the snow comes and the hedgehog’s vision of stretches of grass is replaced by concrete. The duos’ vocals dance together with a good harmony with Anna taking the lead adding a great sadness underneath the jangly melody and tinged with an almost Caribbean keyboard backing track. The accompanying video (see below) just adds to the scene and tugs the heart chords.       

In case you hadn’t guessed, we strongly recommend “Birds and Beasts”. Their new album is a tight work that is informed by, but also extremely generous with it’s genre influences. It is an original series of tracks that pays its respects to animals without dressing them up in top hats and dinner jackets. Evocative and confident, the “Birds and Beasts” second album is an essential purchase for those with a hankering for unabashedly classic rock with an intriguing central premise that goes a long, long way.

Birds and the Beasts are launching their album tour, starting at the Laurence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield (supported by Dan Healey) on 23rd October, and then are going outward to other great venues, check out the details here.


The album is available from all good stockists, we recommend you purchase from the band directly here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVx_t-3DAGo
Categories
Appalachian Dance Folk Music Theatre

“Finding Folk” play – Sheffield University Drama Studio (5th August 2021) A Review

So after a pretty big hiatus for live events, we found ourselves trundling off to the Sheffield University Drama Studio to see the latest play “Finding Folk” by Phoebe Ophelia (http://www.phoebeophelia.com/finding.html).

Centred on the life experiences of Ophelia (a young Lancashire woman who we find has suffered trauma within her family), the scene sets on an overall green aesthetic with a rocking chair, some cool matching jade shoes and a quiet, gentle banjo tune strumming within the confines of the old Baptist Church. 

An audience member’s appreciation for “Finding Folk” will depend on what they intend for their evening. After all, “Finding Folk” can be thought of in three parts. It is:  (i.) song and dance inspired by Appalachian music and performed consistently well throughout the set  (ii) a drama, with aspects of the performer’s life physically re-enacted with all the pain and joys that comes with it and (iii.) a creative and arts-based therapy for the performer and (to some extent), the audience, which both seeks to explore the nature of the therapist-client relationship. There is some great singing and dancing here that shines like fresh fruit in the midday sun. This is due to Ophelia’s combined optimism and commitment during these song and dance moments. You get to hear the odd old-time ditty at certain intervals (such as “happy go lucky me”) coming over the waves in the more cheerful sections of the play, and this is all good, but the crux and main push of the play seems to sit more with the second and third points. There is a reason for this.

In keeping with the play being a piece of creative therapy, “Finding Folk” is quite vague with the details. There are quick snapshots, like thin slices of cheese, where things are clearer than others such as Phoebe’s representation of her mother’s ill health and being “on the waiting list”. This is an especially visceral scene, capturing the spinning wheel of ill thoughts that repeat and repeat in their destruction. It is an uncomfortable watch, but only because it is so raw and believable. There are other occasions which are seemingly happy but because of the “show-not-tell” nature, it is not fully clear whether it is a happy moment. At one point there is an interlude where Ophelia meets a man in a club and she spends the night with him. It seems like the warm beam of a lighthouse lighting up a foggy mind but it ends with a fall (literal and mental). Is it a negative event in itself, or does her mental health and doubts catch up with her? Perhaps this lack of clarity is the art itself as therapy investigates multiple truths and when mental issues are thrown in it can lead to the blurring of perception when they interact with memory, even before introducing them in the art space. 

This lack of precise details seems like a necessary characteristic of the first half of the play. The music and dance is a vehicle for the performer’s memories rather than what many might feel the key subject of discussion is. “Finding Folk” does not describe the healing power of the banjo as such, so you may be waiting for the epiphany moment when the banjo bursts into Phoebe’s life and brings respite to her feelings but along with some excellent dance steps, it is just kind of “there”, quietly dropped in from the beginning and allowed to take root through the course of things.

When the performance ends and there is a 45 minute discussion about the work which is preceded by a relaxation technique to open up the feelings of the audience. We wondered how this would play out as in our work life we encounter these aspects of mental health regularly and see the importance of discussing interventions and therapy. That being said, the notion of using the second half to ask specific questions to clear up and build on what has been shown in the first half was not a part of the performance which we were fully invested in. We applaud the innovation here, and enjoyed the discussion but would have preferred a longer, perhaps more traditional performance with further narration that strongly delved into the central character “Finding Folk”, as in the title. Like we said, the love of folk is implied in the performance as the artist does not reference it much. This is especially the case when the first question of the discussion is an audience member asked “how” the central character “found folk”. Some will be fully involved and intrigued, whereas other audiences might find this interactive part too intrusive and left-field for their tastes.

That being said, it is a moving and valuable piece of work which excels in its physicality in performance and music. Heart-felt and brave, it sets out  as an exercise in catharsis and exploration of trauma, memory and art and manages this (in large part due to Ophelia’s excellent physicality). Those with a large interest in folk music might want to check they are ready for an evening of more introspection and experimentation than they are expecting before venturing into the night to purchase a ticket. 

Categories
Acoustic Album/EP Reviews Cabaret Folk Music Folk Pop Irish Mixed Genre

Emma Langford- “Sowing Acorns” – A Review

A fun album that will defy attempts to hold it down in one place. Well arranged and with some seriously confident creations, this disc hints at a continued bright future for Langford.

Release Date: September 2020

It’s been a long time coming, but we have finally got around to reviewing the second album by the characterful, nu-folk joy of a musician that is Emma Langford. Nu-Folk you ask? 

Well Nu-Folk can be all sorts including songs about love, teenage issues to new worries about the world and environment, and all of it will contain a trapping or more of folk music within it. It might be something with a diy acoustic vibe, a grandiose trumpet/some-kind-of-brass solo or some incredibly shiny banjos and usually it is all held together without any historical theme or mention of tradespeople, but something different that speaks to a modern sadness or joy.

This “different” thing is not always what we are personally interested in, but before you expertly flatten your cap to go and find a song about ploughing, take pause. When done well,  Nu-Folk, like all music, is a wonder to behold. When jazz hits folk in a way that creates that yesteryear feeling, when the lyrics are tightly wound and chosen and each word is strung and tuned more daring and precise than the last, then you can go back to your porridge and everything in the world is still right. It is safe to say that Langford has got things right here with a strong sophmore entry.

Irish-born Langford has made strides in recent years. She has been named Best Emerging Folk Artist by Irish national broadcaster, RTÉ Radio 1, and likewise was shortlisted as the Best Folk Singer in the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards of  2020. Before these awards and the phenomenon of Covid, Langford found many opportunities to tour away from  Limerick, with her sound being  over Europe in Denmark, Switzerland, Germany and others. She must be as joyous as a raffle winner; the one who is making her strides to the raffle table to choose and collect the one good remaining prize (which is usually a suspect looking bottle of wine).

Listening to the CD the first thing that strikes you is the contrast between the songs here. Like a honey badger fighting a mole snake, it is a beast of a CD with different flourishes and movements that it showcases to be able to make success on it’s own terms. There are tracks that are a showcase of a folk-talent bonny and bright, but then you have the other genres mixed here with their colours coming together delightfully like a skittle milkshake (though brush your teeth before and after this album please). This being said, there is nothing here that is over-sentimental or sickly sweet (or as disagreeable as the lime skittles).

“The Winding Way down to Kells Bay” is a light-touch, joy-filled handshake of a song that splashes and sprays seawater over the rocks of the sunny beach you are walking down. This could be a folk staple with Langford’s voice being the engine that is in James Bond’s Aston Martin compared to a modern supercar. She isn’t racing you along so you aren’t getting a battering in the ribs, but rather you get to see the scene in the stately drive, see the landscape and feel the land. Much like the foam of the sea it is breezy and casual yet quintessentially and seriously the folk you are looking for .

The album opener “BirdSong” is a striking choral chant that thuds and scraps it’s way onto the scene with it’s rolling shockwaves of confidence and defiant tone. Demanding attention, it’s lyric “Til your eyes find me I’m strong as my bones” is pretty much a spell of power harkening to all women whose strength of mind and body is not unlike a basalt carving. Moved and formed by a volcanic heart of compassion and love, it portrays a grit and determination in it’s stalwart composition and steady pace. Contemplating the weakness in pairing with another person, the song itself repeats and builds, many voices come in and it’s musical layers come together in an almost spiritually clean manner. Simple enough in construction but the devil is in the detail, it shines like stars in the night cloak of the sky. 

Goodbye Hawaii is probably our favourite track on the album. Definitely having it’s mirror focused on the yesteryear here is a song with a vintage, jazz sea-sprayed quality combined with buzz words from Grey’s Anatomy. Undeniably rosy-cheeked and spirited, it is interspersed with lyrics that call on Oxytocin and heart muscle as if they were volleyball buddies in Miami. Perhaps it is the sound of Hannibal having a holiday in the Bahamas or Dexter on a city break? Whatever the intention, gruesome interlude or cute fact-check on anatomy it’s a visceral description of what being heart-broken is like and the associated emotional pain that is felt from being left. Langford croons incredibly well amongst the jangly percussion. Langford’s classy image, the sound of suburbia and a clear looking love to this island you get the impression that there was a lot of fun to be had here.  

You Are Not Mine (This Song Isn’t About You, You Lying Bollix) is another good swinging time with punchy, soft drums and gentle strums in between a purposeful, yet meandering heady mix that seems an awful lot like those complex interactions at wedding receptions. It is the sound of history as you share a space with an old relationship, that weird spark of energy and familiarity that grabs your heart until your head overrides. Hopefully you realise that little heist that is going on is a sequel to the tune of Oceans 12, and is probably not a good idea. A great track to finish the album. 

There is a lot else here to enjoy such as the breathy, intimate questioning of “Free to Fall” in it’s acoustic simplicity, the anthemic and placard raising sensibilities of the title track, or the bright, snappy retro Angel Delight of a dessert that is “Ready-O”.  Langford moves through the pages of history stopping at the heart-felt meadow, the cosmopolitan champagne bar, and wind-swept beaches like a bee collecting the nectar of music. As she goes she collects what she needs to make a confident, whimsy-filled album brimming at the edges with joy and talent. The cabaret has started, everyone start your cheers.

“Sowing Acorns” is available on Bandcamp directly from the artist, at https://emmalangfordmusic.bandcamp.com/album/sowing-acorns

For more information about the artist, go to her page here.

— I do not claim ownership or copyright of any pictures used in this post. If I have not identified your work and you want your photos credited then please contact us at reviewer@folk-phenomena.co.uk

Categories
Album/EP Reviews Dorset Duo Folk Music Gentle Nature Folk

Ninebarrow- “A Pocket Full of Acorns” Review

Timely, persistent and quiet. The natural world continues to spill forth from Ninebarrow’s fourth album, in all the best ways.

Those quiet boys of folk, Ninebarrow, have been keeping themselves busy during the lockdown.

Well, when we say quiet, we acknowledge that ever since their debut album they have been anything but; with recognition from the BBC2 Folk Awards and numerous magazine and online publications, becoming a pillar of Lyme Folk Festival as well as their books and commissions they have been involved in. But then “quiet” is all relative and you can still be softly spoken while still working hard. 

Ninebarrow, photographed in Dorset, October 2020 by Greg Funnell.

In these strange times the duo of Jon Whitley and Jay Labouchardiere have been, in fact, quietly working on their latest folk album “A Pocket Full of Acorns”. This disc looks to the natural world by specifically relishing in the human experience of it. One of the few pleasures that has not been totally off-limits during the lockdown here in the UK is the great outdoors; it appears that the nation’s love of the countryside has been reignited somewhat as it becomes the go-to meeting space. With this in mind, Ninebarrow should be in a good position as the British countryside serves as the primary inspiration for their brand of folk, it has been their muse from the very beginning and it is what they are good at singing about. 

With “A pocket full of acorns” (their fourth album) there might be a temptation to wonder where Ninebarrow has left to go with their brand of softly spoken, nature-infused folk which has served them well up to this point. Well, it seems that whilst their newest pastures are not far from the homestead we see once again that their conviction, appreciation of a simple message, and crystal clear vocals win the day against possible dissenters. To understand we could consider a bottle of olive oil. It is a hugely popular item in a kitchen and is quite ubiquitous as so much cooking requires it. For the oil to be special and stand out it has to excel in quality against its competitors. Luckily, if Ninebarrow’s combined duo vocals are like olive oil, then we can safely say that this album is beyond extra virgin.  

In exploring the roots of this work, let us now turn to the tracks.

The namesake of the album, “A pocketful of acorns” is a good place to start. The song is directly inspired by a vice Admiral in the Napoleonic times who considered the need for trees for the future of the Navy and the Country, and as a result, always carried some in his hands as he walked. When you listen, there is this pensive, personal consideration of responsibility that comes through the song. On top of this, the simple reigns supreme as the listener re-experiences the wonder of holding a potential natural wonder in their hands, ready to unfurl upwards. As such we consider actions we might take to help preserve the future. The piano is like an old wooden emissary of the woods swaying and creaking as the duo lay down this sympathetic and spiritual track and tt is, in our opinion, as close to anything they have produced that represents the core message intention and purpose Ninebarrow possess as songwriters. For additional kudos, as a part of their album release the duo are embarking on the task of planting 1000 native English trees and several shrubs which is intended to cover the carbon footprint for them touring the album. They are (so to speak) putting their money where their mouth is here, and it is a credit to their message.

Ninebarrow, photographed in Dorset, October 2020 by Greg Funnell.

Another track which exemplifies the light-touch of the album is “Nestledown”. At their most understated, the duo gently speak as if their song is the secretive sounds of the Earth’s hum, the patter and scrape of the earthworm with their guidance to the seedlings looking to grow and thrive, “there’s warmth in the air.. But nestle down deep.” Taking inspiration from the local Dartford Warbler (who braves the British cold and doesn’t migrate) and a desire to “looking forward to longer days” it is almost trance-like, taking the simple concepts of light and heat and hits the primal feels. It allows us to imagine we are of nature seeking the simple clarity of nature’s desires away from the complexities of social constructs that are divorced from nature. Instinctive and atmospheric, it is another wonder added to the disc.

“You Who Wander” is everything that is the joy of the different seasons. A bouncy rendition of the English tune “Speed the Plough” with an added exuberant splash of percussion. It is great in it’s vocal observations of those small joys such as “the glint of the Winter and the promise of Spring”. A song about rambling, it is somewhat of a prayer for walkers to have a fair day and to put your best foot forward, maybe for all sorts of things in life. It is like a feast for the optimist and a small, warm hug for those listeners who are under the weather.   

One feeling the audience might express on a cursory listening is that Ninebarrow take few diversions from enjoying the countryside. This isn’t strictly speaking true though as further attention shows us they do deviate from their theme here and there. If something else takes your fancy there is the cover of Patrick Wolf’s “Teignmouth” about a train journey from London to Cornwall with the weary character of the song glimpsing half-truths in his window’s reflection (and the closest you might hear Ninebarrow being sombre). There is also the exceptionally well known song of “Hey John Barleycorn” that in it’s barley goodness is like a smooth amber ale as it reaches the back of your throat. Barley is natural but the feeling has always seemed to us to be about nature personified instead of the observed murmurations in the skies. The strongest diversion from the nature theme however has to go to track 3, “Under the Fence”. Inspired by a documentary of the detainment camps in Calais, the song is a pretty strong blow to the heart. Quite haunting, but not too bleak in delivery,“But the girl still dreams of friends and school. But life is harsh and fate is cruel”, it reminds somewhat of Tori Amos’ “Past the Mission”. It’s latter piano presence is noticeably penetrating and a reminder that Ninebarrow can sing folk songs outright, or they can adapt them to a more contemporary singer-songwriter vibe without much difficulty. Either way it is an engaging number, a flip of expectations and probably one of the best songs on the disc.  

Ninebarrow, photographed in Dorset, October 2020 by Greg Funnell.

So we come to the summary.

In its dedication to warm, clear lyrics and message the album’s peacefulness goes for the jugular. Ninebarrow continue to expand their catalogue of nature folk in a way which encapsulates the “everyman” enjoyment and quietness of their surroundings. They are not the tsunami that rages upon the land, they are the ripple of a koi biting the surface of the water or a hummingbird effortlessly hovering in place. The mellow sound of Ninebarrow is quite fetching, the pair continue to write a good selection of songs from their source material and this album has the potential to transport their message far and wide. We recommend a purchase for that drive down the Dorset coast, the Peak District or any other part of nature’s gift to open the mind a little to the experience.

As often is the case, “A Pocketful of Acorns” is available from several stockists, though we always recommend purchasing from the artist directly if possible. 

In this instance please go to https://www.ninebarrow.co.uk/shopping

If you want a further taster of the album, please watch the below video.

Categories
Album/EP Reviews British Energetic Folk Music Folk Rock Modern Arrangement Political Protest Folk

Merry Hell – Emergency Lullabies (review)

Exuberant and rousing with a few inspired sentimental stops, Merry Hell still have a lot to say with their sixth album. 

RELEASED NOVEMBER 2020

What can we say of Merry Hell? They are a band often seen on the live circuit with an impressive turnaround of albums (this is their sixth studio outing); you could believe they are the folk world’s equivalent of oxen in a Renaissance painting with their ubiquity, whilst looking incredibly cheerful in their toils. Having listened to their latest offering “Emergency Lullabies” it is safe to say that Merry Hell continue to skillfully and happily pull the yoke of folk rock over our current fertile music scene and show us exactly how they continue to be seen and heard in all quarters.

Consisting of Virginia Kettle (vocals), John Kettle (guitar), Bob Kettle (mandolin), Andrew Kettle (vocals), Lee Goulding (keyboard), Nick Davies (bassist), Neil McCartney (fiddle) and Andy Jones (drummer); Merry Hell have forged a high path in the folk scene through their lack of pretentiousness, an iron-solid bit of songwriting and a kind of national concern and warm embrace contained in their music. The key to their success is surely that their albums are of very subjects that appeal across the political spectrum as, when all is said and done, they don’t try to score political points they just look for the good in people and society through hope, charity and joy. Once this is all mixed up with a well-developed Folk/Punk energy (from their time as the Tansads) we get a loveable, people-orientated band on a mission to cheer up and rally the populace. 

Their new album is an interesting beast as it seems to take a two-pronged approach to entertaining and pulling at the heart-strings. It feels like an album of two dates for your prom night. The first is a cheerful, self-assured protest marcher whose presence does not require added charm (or a megaphone), the other is a downright soppy guy arriving on your doorstep drenched from rain and clutching wild daffodils, slightly broken at the head of the stalk (but he knows how to woo in Latin). This duality, much like 1968’s film “The Odd Couple”, fills the album with charm and allows the magic to happen and spread across the album. This is all well, but what of the tracks?

“Go Down Fighting” has all the hallmarks of a classic Merry Hell Song that works by painting a sombre picture that of dark days to come which “we” can all bust with determination and grit , “bring in all your doubt and all your fears, bring the consternations of your years.” The track reminds of their previous work “We Need Each Other Now” and can be seen as the bread and butter pudding of Merry Hell’s vision and voice . Fighting their war with “peace and love”, their words spin on an active pacifism that has a feeling of a “warm glow” much like fluorescent coral of the sea. Backed with a bouncy, chopping electric guitar, thumping drum and a fine tonic of voices, it is a great opener to the disc.

Another song, similar in inspiring pride but vastly different in execution is “Three Little Lions” (track 3). Virginia Kettle takes the lead on vocals here, delivering a fable-like telling on what seems like England taking on a new identity in the world. Heavy in metaphor and spinning a story of the present and future through strong national iconography we get a spell-like song that calls to all the points on a compass. Complete with epic fantasy level chanting later in the track and some nice fiddle amongst that guitar, it is a song that is asking for fur suits of armour and/or the nations of the United Kingdom combining in a kind of Braveheart style fight against a shadowy opponent. For many listeners there will be some interesting themes to pick through this particular track.

The pinnacle of this particular  theme of national pride has to be attributed to track 7, “Beyond the Call”. A song for the NHS, doctors and nurses who stand “beyond the call” is a kind of celebratory prayer prepared with relatively delicate backing instruments whose rallying power culminates with the community voices added to the song from across the UK. Collected during the lockdown (a challenge to acquire and edit I am sure), it is a rather triumphant and powerful statement of support for our nationally funded health services and the workers therein. On point still at the time of writing (March 2021) it is a big thank you, and almost certainly the defining moment on this album for many. 

This lighter, supportive side of Merry Hell then turns into a kind of stylised classic sentimentalism at different points within the album which give it a wider appeal. Of course being a little sentimental does not make the subject of “Violet” a wallflower by any means,  but this “beautiful recluse” of a song is lined with clever small rhymes, and the track skips like a cheerful grasshopper moving from blade to blade, beat to beat. It is a song celebrating the outspoken, self-assured woman in a vaudeville turn you would expect instead to be about an eccentric gentleman with a penchant for colourful waistcoats, but is more the better for not being. As you listen through several gamboling and witty lyrics later, you feel like you’ve dropped off the suitcases to your room, arrived at the hotel pool bar with a cool mojito in hand and have the moment of peaceful bliss as you take in your surroundings. The yesteryear swagger and nostalgia combined with these combinations of words reveals another part of Merry Hell’s success; they know how to have a jolly laugh with themselves. 

Continuing on this theme we also get “Handsome Sally” and “Younger Than You Were”. We have to say, we are rather partial to these sweeter numbers on this album and are glad for their inclusion. “Handsome Sally” excels in that everything has been dialled back just a little bit. Slightly less flashy and big band,  slightly less bombastic it is the quiet, affecting advice from a lifelong friend to you in your time of need. The guitar leads with a sparser strum, a gentle violin and a drum hiding behind the curtain. It feels like the kind of song that would be shuffling around the top of the charts at Christmas time in the 90s, the familiar solidness of it all burns like a pleasing Boxing |Day turkey curry. Andrew Kettle draws on some fine inspiration beyond his singing in this track and it is a solid contender for track of the album. 

“Younger Than You Were” is more like the rhythmic, spark on a faster, more recognisable Merry Hell track but not any less touching for it.  Guaranteed to get people on the floor during a set, and possibly a place on a folkie’s wedding reception list or engagement party (is that a thing in normal times?) Sounding like a well-loved, well-considered couple who have known each other “since records began” it is celebratory, joyous and incredibly descriptive of the love that grows as the years go on. Many would say this in their relationship to Merry Hell’s music, and that is tricky to argue against.

So, all things considered, we get a strong mix of warmth both towards society and the individuals within from this sixth album by a modern staple of the folk scene. With an output that continues to “spark joy”, as they say, and the sense that there is a ton of ideas yet to come (in arguably “less creatively challenging times”) when the pandemic is a distant memory; we highly recommend the latest album by these rocksters. The whole package has been extremely well put together, sounding rich, deep and somehow (maybe alchemy) as if it was constructed in better circumstances outside of the pandemic. Like a swiss mechanical watch, these reliable, essential and high quality artists continue to shine and tick, providing a valuable, treasured service to many.

To buy the album, we recommend going direct to the artist on their shop here, though it is available in all good stockists.

No ownership of the images exhibited is implied. Please message and I will credit and label your work.

On the way to buying this album, also check out Merry Hell’s 1st January release “When We Meet Again”, another fine articulation of hope and reassurance for these difficult times, http://www.merryhell.co.uk/when-we-meet-again.html

Categories
Album/EP Reviews Folk Music Gentle Nature Folk Scots Vitality

Jenny Sturgeon – The Living Mountain (review)

An album indistinguishable from the nature it is set in, Sturgeon’s expertise ensures a multi-layered, emotional linchpin of folk

Now even deeper into the cold of Winter, we come to ponder Jenny Sturgeon’s latest work “The Living Mountain” originally released on 16 October 2020. Sturgeon’s first album “From the Skein” was an enjoyable and accomplished work exploring myth, humanity and nature which seriously tickled our fancy back in 2016. Now she is back from the heat of that debut, not so much with a left-turn but rather a wonderful refocus of energies. Jenny Sturgeon’s second solo album “The Living Mountain” is a project that somehow sees both the grand scheme of the living world on it’s canvas as well as being a focused lens examining nature’s fundamental parts.

The CD is methodical in it’s examination of themes in such a way that sets itself apart from the more human myth-centred works of her first album. The reason for this is that it is highly inspired by nature writer Nan Sheperd’s book “The Living Mountain”.  Like a matroyshka doll, the album moves from grand vistas of “the plateau” to the more intricate workings of nature such as “birds, animals, insects” before venturing inward to “man” and later “being”, each piece seemingly fitting in another and becoming grander. Sturgeon walks the chapter structure of the written form and brings her interpretations of each to the CD. Growing up in the Cairngorms and her own academic background (PhD in seabird ecology) mean that there is a perfect marriage of the emotional and intellectual bridge that gives the album a legitimacy of its own as an informed perspective. 

We start this journey wide and far with Sturgeon’s first track “The Plateau”. The instrumentation is a sweeping, embracing gale that has the characteristic of the natural world; Sturgeon’s vocals are cool to the touch and the lyrics are poetic. Rising like water vapour it then drops gently like a spinning, winnowing feather from it’s solitary downy nest as it transitions to the second track. Here the album commits confidently evoking nature metaphors with you “taken downstream.. Propelling forward” both in the physical and mental. The track feels like snapshots of a raw, primal comfort as Sturgeon’s voice calls from the warming harmonium and blankets the listener in a peaceful embrace that reaches outwards.

Throughout the album the percussion, sounds of nature and vocals embrace like grass snakes in the long lawn. For ourselves it stirs a memory of the excellent audio design and layering of the natural world in Lisa Knapp’s “Till April is Dead: A Garland of May”, but to that album’s light and renewal, this is an Autumn gathering of firewood as a dark season counterpoint which excites the senses.  “Frost and Snow” is a good indicator of this with it’s sounds of ice bobbing in water and ice cracking in sheets. Thoroughly cool, Knapp’s voice is a reverberating polar vortex moving through the land and searing the tree branches. Incredibly important, Surgeon’s work whispers tales from our natural selves, seemingly from within the chill of our bones themselves.

The album does take some detours from these broad characterisations we attribute too. Brushes of heat delightfully touch the face in “Air and Light”, for example, a guitar led joy that feels like the sun reaching around your bedroom door awakening you to the day ahead. “The Plants” is another bright number with an earthy, spiritual vibe that is a shared, positive energy as the song proclaims “we are of the sun”. You can picture the sprouting green shoots clumped together, reaching upwards and being at one with the solar rays. “The Senses” is a track which feels like a bow that has tied up all the joys of walking, climbing and being with nature that Sturgeon has touched on on the album and presented it as that thoughtful, unexpected gift that you are given from an old friend.

“The Living Mountain” is an album that is steeped in examining the bonds of humanity and nature through Sturgeon’s own joyful experience making this a potent work of psycho-geography. The Highlands are clearly a cherished place in the singer’s heart, and through the immediacy of this album, we can share in this. Rarely do we come across an album that is so wind-bitingly sensory and quietly grand about the natural world. Credit must be given all round for the additional musicians who have performed as if emerging from the trees (Grant Anderson, Andy Bell, Mairi Campell, Su-a Lee, Jez Riley French), the field recordings that elevate this above a safer more conventional nature folk album (Magnus Robb & The Sound Approach) and Andy Bell (mixer/producer) who makes your safe warm indoors sound very much like the wild, beautiful majesty of the outdoors.

A great sensory experience, a peaceful living and breathing work this is an album whose a fire crackles and pops against the dark wonderful night and it is definitely worth your attention.

If you are interested in hearing more about this labour of love, you can head to buy the album here. Sturgeon has also delved deeper and involved several individuals from all different fields in the making of this project for “The Living Mountain Conversations”. You can check that out here too.