Seth Lakeman – Word of Mouth (Cooking Vinyl)
Gritty folk rhythms is what the former poster boy of folk is mainly about, his furious fiddling adding a sense of urgency to the music, a style he has always had, and first exposed nationally on the surprise Mercury Prize nominated, and very low budget (£300 apparently) affair that was the Kitty Jay album of 2004.
And as expected, strident fiddles take centre stage on songs such as The Courier and The Ranger. But this is a more nuanced album, with more balladry and mid-tempo numbers. Like the craftspeople he often sings about, his songwriting craft is reaching full maturity – for someone not naturally gifted in the songwriting department, it does take that long, years of learning, fine-tuning, practicing and experimenting. Although Word of Mouth is very similar in concept to his previous album, the experimental Tales From the Barrel House (which was a disappointment, commercially speaking), it’s a better record thanks to the better songswriting, and the live ensemble playing that lends the music a warmth and authenticity somewhat missing before. Tales from The Barrel House was a solo record, Lakeman played everything himself, and therefore it’s very much a studio creation (albeit a studio in a Barrel House, where he recorded), while Word of Mouth is a band record, much of it done live and impromptu. With the right band behind him, this only serves to enhance Lakeman’s creations. Nicely mixing up his trademark hyper rhythms with slower, atmospheric ballads, Lakeman employs the services of the excellent Winter Mountain boys plus other guests as backing vocalists. And then there’s long-time companion Ben Nicholls, once again delivering deep and melodious double bass throughout.
Continuing with his pursuit of finding the right environment and the right acoustics, this time he pitched up in a church in Cornwall, which provided a subtle ‘live’ echo, and proceeded to sing about his native land and the people who inhabit it. All the songs feature narratives that Lakeman heard firsthand; and so the songs and stories are largely about being at the coalface of life, including contributions from dock workers, bell ringers, female copper miner, rail workers, stevedores and even a witness to a disastrous rehearsal for the D-Day landings. It is a document of fading skills, lifestyles and traditions.
Lakeman continues to expertly straddle the folk tradition and the contemporary folk movement of which he is perhaps the most prominent of the male contingent, having survived the period in which he signed a major label deal and was thrust into the limelight without it quite working out for any of the parties involved. This is a good thing, as genuine folk music is a world away from pop and rock, and despite the likes of Mumford & Sons and Johnny Flynn injecting some folkiness, and old timeyness into their creations, it’s still a widely misunderstood musical medium, best kept out of hands who don’t quite get it.
Jeff Hemmings
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