A welcome return to one
of England’s finest folk-rock band’s bringing with them those glorious
riffs that have become so much a part of their distinctive sound.
The UK is blessed in having
a fine tradition of song bearers and whilst we have artists such as
Steeleye Span and the fluid vocals of Maddy Prior to bring these ancient
ballads dramatically to life we can all rest easy in our beds. Opening
with the robust tale of “The Gallant Frigate Amphitrite” and it’s
tribulations ‘rounding the Horn’ you’ll no doubt be rooting for the
crew mastering the even more treacherous waters of the girls they left
behind. On the second track I’ve a ‘nagging’ feeling that some of
you reading this review will already be aware of the tale of “Creeping
Jane” and that I’d better ‘rein’ in the puns before Maddy becomes
too ‘horse’. Performed in a style not dissimilar to the band’s
previous hit “Hard Times Of Old England” with it’s galloping jig
beat courtesy of Liam Genocky and Peter Knight’s duelling violins it’s
left to the driving bass of Rick Kemp and axe-man Ken Nicol to get us past
the finishing post. Re-visiting the song “Fighting For Strangers”
(from their Rocket Cottage album) the inspired ‘strings’ arrangement
of “Our Captain Cried” shows that the band has lost none of its
freshness in reinventing the wheel on an album that is littered with gems
and although they may be in a more subtle, contemplative mood this is as
good as anything that’s gone before.
Further details from
www.parkrecords.com
