Grunting Machines Spilling Contagious Cereals,
Roderick Woomble is a songwriter I admire. He has never received the credit for Billy Idlewild that he deserves, however, I’m wary of the band becoming a commercial monster and the chance that I might not be able to buy a ticket. His latest work, Before the Ruin, with acclaimed folk musicians, Kris Drever and John McCusker is of a typically high sta
ndard.
Kris Drever is a brand in himself, he has a fabulous song on his Black Water album called Harvest Gypsies. John McCusker is an accomplished fiddler; he contributed to Roddy’s last album, My Secret is My Silence.
Into the Blue seems to be the lead song of the album and although this will be labelled a folk album, I this would sit pretty well on any pop radio station, they’re happy to have the likes of Coldpuke and Yellow Snow Patrol and this would surely not displease anyone. This is not faint praise, it’s merely a criticism of our country’s radio system.
Woomble brings his soft Embra indie vocals, Kris Drever has a harder, more traditional folk style that is very much Orkney and McCusker’s fiddle is like a vocal itself. The lovely voice of Heidi Talbot is also a huge part of this album.
All Along the Way is one of my favourites, it’s led by Roddy, it’s about nothing more than wandering through life, it’s not lyrically complicated, it’s just has a wonderful flow to it and a nice bobbing chorus, “we’re packing up, we’re picking up, we’re putting on our boots all along the way”, the Kris Drever solo verse is a surprise but it adds to the texture and is my favourite part alongside a marvellous violin interlude.
Kris Drever really stars in The Poorest Company, it’s one of those self-deprecating, introspective songs that I really like and I end up feeling rather sympathetic to Kris, even though he tells us they’ve stolen something (it could be anything: grapes from the supermarket - I don’t do that - time, a pen, ideas), he surely doesn’t belong in the poorest company.
He certainly isn’t in the poorest company on this album, it’s a delight to own and listen to.
ndard.Kris Drever is a brand in himself, he has a fabulous song on his Black Water album called Harvest Gypsies. John McCusker is an accomplished fiddler; he contributed to Roddy’s last album, My Secret is My Silence.
Into the Blue seems to be the lead song of the album and although this will be labelled a folk album, I this would sit pretty well on any pop radio station, they’re happy to have the likes of Coldpuke and Yellow Snow Patrol and this would surely not displease anyone. This is not faint praise, it’s merely a criticism of our country’s radio system.
Woomble brings his soft Embra indie vocals, Kris Drever has a harder, more traditional folk style that is very much Orkney and McCusker’s fiddle is like a vocal itself. The lovely voice of Heidi Talbot is also a huge part of this album.
All Along the Way is one of my favourites, it’s led by Roddy, it’s about nothing more than wandering through life, it’s not lyrically complicated, it’s just has a wonderful flow to it and a nice bobbing chorus, “we’re packing up, we’re picking up, we’re putting on our boots all along the way”, the Kris Drever solo verse is a surprise but it adds to the texture and is my favourite part alongside a marvellous violin interlude.
Kris Drever really stars in The Poorest Company, it’s one of those self-deprecating, introspective songs that I really like and I end up feeling rather sympathetic to Kris, even though he tells us they’ve stolen something (it could be anything: grapes from the supermarket - I don’t do that - time, a pen, ideas), he surely doesn’t belong in the poorest company.
He certainly isn’t in the poorest company on this album, it’s a delight to own and listen to.
posted by Leif at 10:16 PM
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