 Songs From The Blue House - Too |
East Anglian based Songs From The Blue House (which from now on will be
referred to as SFTBH!) are in principle a three piece outfit that have
different musicians playing with them at different times. A slightly
confusing situation I'm sure but if they are going to produce music like
this it is obviously a formula that works very nicely indeed.
The core three are singer/guitarist James Partridge, guitarist Shane Kirk and bass player Richard 'Gibbon' Hammond. Having played around their local scene as individuals for years they decided that the best thing would be to get together and so the SFTBH project was formed. The debut, self titled album was released in 2003 and is a fine listen, however this new record pretty much beats it all ends out as far as I'm concerned, and as I'm the reviewer, for this short period of time it's my view that counts! It's not that the first record is bad in any way, you can just tell that for this second release the band has come on leaps and bounds. They sound tighter, the writing and performing is slicker and the whole package is just very well rounded. It hasn't been out of my car for at least three months! With the three 'actual members' come a whole host of guests, with the stand out being vocalist Helen Mulley. She possesses a sweet tone and brings a lot to the bands sound and appeal (not just because she's female..you know what I mean!?) The harmonies that she achieves with Partridge takes a lot of the numbers to the next level, there aren't enough acts anymore with two really good singers but this band can boast this. Add fiddle, mandolin, drums/percussion, harmonica, banjo and a stadium full of Ipswich Town fans and you have pretty much everything that plays a part on this album, although I'm sure I've forgotten something! Standout tracks for me include the haunting 'Waste of angels', which gives Mulley a real stage to shine on that she takes advantage of wonderfully. The opening track 'Song III' gives you a taste of what this band can do with regards the immense sound they can achieve, and the country-esq 'On the contrary' with its bluegrass feel. Mind you, saying they are my favorite tracks is really just giving you some indication of what to look out for and what may jump out at you on first listen. At the end of the day, every track on here is quality and I fully love it. The band give the impression from sleeve notes and website content that they really do have fun whist playing both live and recorded, and that blatantly evident enthusiasm runs throughout this recording. This record has a release date penned for July of this year and I would urge all folk/acoustic/country/bluegrass/music fans to buy it. There is something for everyone within this for people that just want to be entertained for 45 minutes, and I hope that anybody else who gets to hear this will agree with me. |