I’m in the middle of an international journey
through folk music. We started in the USA with Mandolin Orange and then went to
Scotland for Capercaillie before landing this week in England!
Disc 1276 is… Almanac
Artist:
Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo
Year of Release: 2011
although mine is a re-issue from 2013.
Checking back I see I mislabeled my last review as 2013
(because of the re-issue) when it should have been 2008. I have since remedied
the error.
What’s up with the
Cover?
A peacock gives his son an affectionate bump on the beak while in the
background dandelions resembling ladies in voluminous dresses go to seed. This
isn’t a piece of art I would hang on my wall but as an album cover it is quite
lovely.
How I Came to Know
It: I
read a review of Emily Barker’s “Applewood Road” side project. That led me to
her albums as Emily Barker (both with and without the Red Clay Halo). A quick
stop at her Bandcamp sit and before I knew it five albums showed up at my
doorstep. Efficient and personal, with some well-wishes from Emily Barker
herself and as an added bonus Jeff Bezos didn’t get any wealthier.
How It Stacks Up: I have five Emily Barker albums. Of those
five, “Almanac” comes in at #5. Hey, someone had to be last.
Ratings: 3 stars
In my last Emily Barker review I remarked on
how remarkably American she sounded. Not so on “Almanac” where Barker has much
more fully aligned with her English surroundings. Alone, she takes on the lilt
of Laura Marling, and when you add in the pretty harmonies of her Red Clay Halo
bandmates, more like the Staves. And if you don’t know those bands, then know
they’re English. Then go read more of my reviews.
This is music of hedgerows, overgrown gardens
and damp chilly pastures full of mist and ghosts. The playing is organic at its
core, but the band has an atmospheric swell when they come together that feels
lush and dense.
The effect is well executed, but there were
times where I wanted to hear other elements. For example, Barker is a gifted
songwriter. She authors every song on Almanac, and many of them feel like
timeless folk ballads. That’s not easy to accomplish, but these songs feel like
they’ve been sung around England since the days of the scop and gleeman.
Selfishly I wanted to hear Barker’s lilting
tone at its clearest, preferably with a lot of her acoustic guitar as
accompaniment (she is also a gifted player). On both “Dancers” and “Ropes”
you get exactly this, with Barker’s sweet voice and some brilliant guitar. Later
on in the latter tune there are a lot of other elements and instruments get
added in and it detracts a bit from the haunting tale of loss and betrayal. For
this reason, I prefer the alternate version provided at the end of the disc, which
is a bit crisper in the production. Also, the alternate version changes the
chorus’ last line from “Thank you for the good times, damn you for the bad”
to “Thank you for the good times, fuck you for the bad.” It feels
more real and besides, who doesn’t enjoy a well-placed swear?
My favourite track is “The Witch of Pittenweem”
which sounds like exactly the sort of town that a witch should come from. I can’t
fully tell if the song is about someone being cursed by a witch or being falsely
accused of being one. In any event, it all ends very badly for her amid much dampness,
blood and torture.
Overall the album has more of this old-time
feel than my last foray into Barker’s work (2008’s “Despite the Snow”) and a welcome
spookiness. I liked it when these songs whistled gauntly through my soul, despite
wishing at times they were a bit starker in their haunting.
Best tracks: Reckless, Little Deaths, Witch of Pittenween, Ropes
(Alternate Version)
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