After the delight that was ‘Too!,’ the arrival of ‘Free!,’ the third album from the Bold Reynold assembly, arrived as a welcome thud on the doormat. The band is luthier and musician David Carroll’s project, revisiting traditional material through the medium of imaginatively arranged folk-rock, with a quintessentially English feel to proceedings. Drawing together an impressive company of players, particularly bandmates from a rejuvenated Gryphon, there is also the now traditional draftee from Fairport Convention and this outing sees the return of instrumentally multi-lingual Chris Leslie. As might be expected from anyone with any degree of acquaintance with Gryphon, the familiarity of much of the material is offset by the inclusion of what could be described as ‘heritage instruments’ amongst the more normal line-up. Mr Carroll contributes a creditable 7 (plus voice), whilst Brian Gulland adds in a mere 15, Graeme Taylor offers a further 4, along with Dave Oberle, who, in addition to drums, offers a further 7 objects of a percussive nature, some unfamiliar and others simply unpronounceable.
What follows is a selection of what is largely traditional material. rooted in the classic folk-rock lineage of the early 1970s, with a freshness to the treatment that belies the durability of the participants.
Opener “Sweet Jenny of the Moor” establishes the pattern, the uilleann pipes give the song an immediate sense of place and antiquity., whilst the following “Hanging Johnny” signals the contrasts across the album, shifting adeptly from ballad to shanty, bringing the attendant increase in tempo, whilst maintaining a feeling of coherence. And so it continues.
“I Will Put My Ship in Order” gives us instrumental delicacy before the vocal enters and by further contract “Molly Bawn” gives us more muscularity, guitar and fiddle lending urgency to a dark and unsettling story, the energy also flows through the return of the massed vocals, previously heard in the shanty as we are treated to a sing along traveller tune, “What Will We Do When We’ll Have No Money”. “The Hunt Is Up” bringing brightness as an antidote to dispel the lyrical gloominess of its predecessor.
With the material carefully curated by David Carroll, it comes as no surprise that his voice is well suited to this repertoire: direct, seasoned and unshowy, the sensitive occasional addition of Lucy Cooper’s harmonies adds brightness, warmth and a degree of humanity.
Overall, despite the individual musical virtuosity on display, it is the collective playing of the ensemble that is the album’s great asset, each track having its own dramatic setting, with the full band giving momentum and added interest to the traditional material.
In an album of many delights, credit should also be given for both the arrangements and production, allowing each of the many voices within the collective to have their contribution heard and enjoyed without any of them dominating, so warmth and depth reign over polish for its own sake, allowing acoustic timbres, electric guitar, pipes, fiddle, dulcimer and more unusual colours such as crumhorns and cor anglais an almost organic co-existence.
Under normal conditions, ‘The Parting Glass’ may provide a suitable finale to an album, but instead what follows is a heartfelt rendition of Eric Bogle’s ‘No Man’s Land’, not yet sufficiently long in the tooth or of obscure origin to be described as traditional, but certainly having reached classic status, and this version does it full justice, extended, solemn and carefully layered.
After multiple listens, Free! as a whole, is a folk-rock album with its own flavour that features both tradition and adventure. With reference to a review of their previous outing and a nod to the personnel, what we have is a great album that would make excellent listening on a warm summer afternoon in an Oxfordshire field (other fields and festivals are available).
Damian Liptrot.
