Iain Archer - To the Pine Roots: “Conceived and
recorded in a cottage by the Black Forest and imbued with the voices and
performances of friends and family, To The Pine Roots … is an ethereal album … The
whisper of instantly recalled melodies, the burring of an age-old harmonium,
the ghostly reverb of pinewood walls and escapist rhythms teased from an
acoustic guitar, distantly recalling a Celtic past. Iain Archer is a songwriter
of the forever-enigmatic mould, unencumbered by musical trends and time
constraints. From the hazy recollections of childhood he draws vivid the scenes
of "Black Mountain Quarry" and "Streamer On A Kite"; with a
playwright's gift for characterisation "The Acrobat" and "The
Nightwatchman", pertinent metaphors for life and living; and at the
album's core "Frozen Lake", a steepling spire of a love song with a
fragile voice, buoyed and raised by harmonium and strings.”
Hurtsmile – Hurtsmile: “Extreme frontman Gary Cherone
took advantage of the band's long gap between the recording and touring cycles,
and decided to launch his own band Hurtsmile in collaboration with brother Mark
Cherone on guitar… Hurtsmile's self-titled debut is a roller coaster ride
through a wide range of musical styles, from classic rock 'n roll to modern
rock to country rock and even some exotic touches here and there. Half way
through it you won't even feel like you're still listening to the same album,
such is the diversity. While it's based on rock 'n roll roots, it takes the
listener through a different side of Gary Cherone and co, one that's never been
brought to light quite like this before.”
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raise The Roof: “It
seems lifetimes ago that Plant and Krauss released their six-Grammy-winning
album of duets, Raising Sand (2007) ... This long-awaited second instalment of
enthralling covers is a dose of musical reassurance that, despite the turmoil
in which we find ourselves, some things remain constant. Roots music and rhythm
and blues have always played a long game in matters of the human condition. What
worked a treat then continues to work now: Plant dialled down to a sultry croon
or, on Bobby Moore and the Rhythm Aces’ Searching for My Love, to a yearning
kind of blue-eyed soul, Krauss’s country tones alternately limpid, frisky or
timeworn, T Bone Burnett producing deftly. A superlative band creates nuanced
tension or percolates away discreetly as required.”
Rev Simpkins – Saltings: “’Saltings' is a loving
portrait of the mystery and beauty of the salt marsh wildernesses of Essex, and
a meditation on the human cost of the wilderness time of the pandemic. Like Rev
Simpkins's last LP, 'Big Sea', 'Saltings' is most of all a record of unblinking
realism amidst darkness, and of a hope grounded in human experience. The album
weaves together tales of the legendary and mysterious figures of the saltings,
such as John Ball (leader of the peasants’ revolt) and Saint Cedd (whose Saxon
chapel stands at Bradwell), with reflections on the wilderness’s ever-changing
tides, skies, and seasons. ‘Saltings’ is an attempt to share the atmosphere and
history of this remarkable place in picture and song.”
Ricky Ross - Short Stories Volume 2: “These Short
Stories records have given Ross a whole other outlet. Here he sits at the piano
and with a lack of clutter gives us surmises on home and work and faith … as he
was conjuring these songs he was also writing his first memoir Walking Back
Home. As a result, we get stories of family and loss … Your Swaying Arms … A
beautiful song that incorporates all of Ross’s strengths - story, sense of
place, romance and little lyrical depth charges … Short Stories Vol. 2 is a
slow burn of an album crammed with the finest of songs. Every return brings a
surprise of piano melody or poetic line.”
Wovenhand - Silver Sash: “Powerful, subtle and
intensely deep. Uniting the calm and mystic side of the early Wovenhand years
with the straight forward yet still magic songs of his latest albums. Over the
last two decades, his prolific work in both Wovenhand and the legendary 16
Horsepower has influenced and inspired a generation of musicians throughout the
expansive alternative music world. The band cannot be described in traditional
terms. Their sound is an organic weave of neo-folk, post rock, punk, old-time,
and alternative sounds. All coming together as a vehicle for David's soulful
expression and constant spiritual self-exploration.”
Mavis Staples & Levon Helm - Carry Me Home: “Much
has changed, of course, in the decade since Staples and Helm reunited for this
set in Woodstock. Less than a year later, Helm died in a New York hospital,
losing his battle with throat cancer after 28 radiation treatments. Cancer also
took Yvonne Staples—a force of her own, even at her sister’s side—six years
later. But the real tragedy and the true impact of this set stem from how
current it feels now and how it will likely remain that way. Staples’ odes to
faith and survival, as well as her quips about bad politics, are as relevant
now as they were then, if not more. “I’m only halfway home,” she sings during
“Wide River to Cross,” the big band lifting behind her. “I’ve got to journey
on.” It’s a Buddy and Julie Miller song, presumably about heavenly ascendance.
But surrounded by family and friends, Staples grounds it here on earth, making
it about the push for everyone’s progress. Make no mistake: This is fight
music, rendered with soul strong and sweet.”
Patti Smith – Land: “Her music is religious—not
necessarily in any way that’s particularly traditionally faithful, but in the
sense that she’s always questioning the universe, hoping and praying for
answers yet still basking in the search for them. And Smith still ploughs
onward. It was only within the past decade that she released her
instant-classic memoir Just Kids, and its follow up, 2017’s M Train, which
brought her prolific catalogue of music and poetry to the ears and eyes and
hearts of a new generation. On her 2012 album Banga, she wrote songs about
contemporary tragedies like the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and the death of Amy
Winehouse; this year, her collaboration with the Sidewalk Collective, The
Peyote Dance, saw her continuing her exploration of mystical interiority
through her interpretation of the writing of French poet Antonin Artaud. Of her
few peers left standing, it’s hard to imagine anyone else reinvigorating their
career in a way that’s anywhere near as successful and, more importantly,
evolved as Smith’s.”
Ho Wai-On – Music is Happiness: “… produced after I
survived cancer for the second time … Music is Happiness is a CD of my music,
and a 64-page book written and designed by me (CD cover & book cover design
by Albert Tang) containing related stories, poems and more than 200
illustrations. The music is performed by excellent musicians. The Chinese
character for 'Music' also means 'Happiness'. In the face of adversity, I have
found happiness through creativity. In the eight selected works reflecting my
bumpy journey of life, the music is very varied.”
The Welcome Wagon – Esther: “Much of the impetus for
their latest came from Monique’s decision to take up painting again after a
decade of inactivity. The collage materials she used were taken from the
collection of her late grandmother, Esther, whose readings from the Bible
(home-recorded onto cassette during the ’90s) kept her company. As Vito’s
tentative new songs gathered shape, with Monique’s accompanying artwork, it
became apparent that home, family and faith were the three interlocking themes
of what became Esther. Simplicity is key to the Welcome Wagon sound. Vito’s
guitar is gentle and politic, allowing for their voices – either trading leads
or paired in intimate harmony – to carry the soft weight of these devotional
songs … Occasional samples of Esther’s voice provide a kind of narrative
thread, linking Vito’s originals to sacred hymnals like “Noble Tree” and
“Bethlehem, A Noble City”, while “Nunc Dimittis” is a canticle from the Gospel
of Luke in traditional Latin. With subtle embellishments of brass, strings and
piano, Esther sometimes resembles the work of The Innocence Mission or [Sufjan]
Stevens himself: charming, understated and often very beautiful.”
My co-authored book ‘The Secret Chord’ is an impassioned study of the role of music in cultural life written through the prism of Christian belief. Order a copy from here.
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