Topic Records 85th anniversary limited edition crimson vinyl reissue of classic collaboration between legendary British folk doyenne and long-standing roots rebels, includes sublime covers of Joy Division and PJ Harvey songs
June Tabor & Oysterband’s Freedom And Rain (1990) was hailed one of the finest collaborative folk albums of the past four decades. Bringing together the immense, individual talents of the sublime English folk singer Tabor and the raucous roots rebels Oysterband, it produced something not only new but enduring.
“Striking gold by fusing the contemporary and traditional Ragged Kingdom raises the alchemy of that process to the highest level”
The Independent
When they reunited to perform at fRoots Magazine’s 30th birthday party at The Roundhouse in 2010, they felt the chemistry spark again. And so, twenty-one years on, they reconvened in 2011 to record the magnificent Ragged Kingdom, a belated, though brilliant follow-up that mixes the traditional with the contemporary in startling fashion.
The trad. ‘Bonny Bunch Of Roses‘ rubs shoulders with PJ Harvey’s ‘That Was My Veil’; a lush, acoustic version of Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ nestles beside the Scottish Stylistically, the participants grew even more in stature in the intervening years between albums – June becoming an eclectic song interpreter, drawing inspiration from many sources and Oysterband systematically re-exploring their own acoustic folk roots. Together, they brought all of this added artistic weight to the project, yet with a deftness of touch.
Ragged Kingdom was recorded first at Rockfield Studios near Monmouth and then at Metway Studios, Brighton, with Oysters’ regular producer Al Scott, Feb to April 2011. “What unites the material on Ragged Kingdom” Telfer continues “is finding the story in the song and the exact drama in the story: pop songs are often story songs too and we tried to find things where the story wasn’t banal, which had some shading in them.’ ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ is a great lyric and so is ‘The Dark End Of The Street’.”
This reissue, released as part of Topic’s 85th anniversary celebrations, also coincides with the announcement of ‘A Long Long Goodbye’ tour, which officially marks Oysterband’s retirement from live performance.
June Tabor joins the band for eight special UK dates this October (the tour officially wraps up in Germany next March).
THU 3 OCT – BIRMINGHAM TOWN HALL
FRI 4 OCT – BRISTOL BEACON
SAT 5 OCT – BEXHILL DE LA WARR PAVILION
SAT 12 OCT – MANCHESTER RNCM CONCERT HALL (SOLD OUT)
SUN 13 OCT – SUNDERLAND THE FIRE STATION
TUE 15 OCT – LEICESTER DE MONTFORT HALL
SAT 19 OCT – LONDON BARBICAN (SOLD OUT)
SUN 20 OCT – CANTERBURY FESTIVAL
Full information/dates here: alonglonggoodbye.live
The album can be pre-ordered here: raggedkingdom.lnk.to/vinyl
“This was worth waiting for” ***** The Guardian
Featured image Judith Burrows
