Tempting tidings from Jim Moray. He’s just announced the release of a new album, the first with fresh material in about seven years. Of course not so long back he gave us the splendid ‘Beflean,’ which reset and reimagined much of his recent work in acoustic guise. Hopefully the forthcoming ‘Gallants,’ will see a return to boundary pushing and his electronic and rockist leanings applied to traditional music.
After all his set at the Shrewsbury Festival last year was a master class in modernising British roots. No fudging of styles or half thought out ideas like much of what passes for fusion and progress, the music was clean, clear and packed with potential, not a fiddle or squeezebox in sight though, the songs shone through and revelled in their contemporary guise. It was one of those, if you weren’t there then you missed out moments.
Fortunately some of the Shrewsbury material is in the track list for ‘Gallants,’ which reads…
- Flora (The Lily Of The West)
- When I Was A Little Boy
- The Nightingale
- Omie Wise
- Three Gallants
- Spencer The Rover
- American Stranger
- Train On The Island
- Fortune Turns The Wheel
“I’m excited to announce my new album with contributions from friends such as Archie Churchill Moss, David Le Page (Orchestra Of The Swan), Maddie Morris and members of Trans Voices who sing harmonies on the closing track. Pre-ordering is genuinely helpful to support me and make the album a success. I can’t wait for you to hear it!” relates Mr. Moray.
There are eight trad items and one new composition, a couple of the songs ‘The Nightingale’ and ‘Spencer The Rover’ have been recent singles and to accompany the release news ‘Flora (The Lily Of The West) is out there now. Unleashed on April 24th there are all kinds of combinations in which to purchase the album on Jim’s site www.jimmoray.co.uk Already touring with Maz O’Connor as support, check out all his live dates there too.
One of the year’s highlights without a doubt. Reserve your copy now, tell Jim we sent you.
