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FOLK
Scottish fiddler John McCusker and his
star-encrusted ensemble think big.
Under One Sky
Under One Sky
Navigator Records
V
ery quietly – and with no small amount of care, taste himself, gently prompting, encouraging
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and diligence – fiddler John McCusker has amassed the and cajoling flawless performances
reputation of folk music’s Mr Fix It. A teenage member of the from one and all which, gathered together, form an
Battlefield Band, the long-time producer of Kate Rusby and effortlessly coherent whole.
an artist releasing beautiful records under his own name, his
latest project (“the highlight of my musical career so far”) is
Opening with the titular opening passage, McCusker’s fiddle
a seriously widescreen affair. Convening a dozen of the most
pours a full measure of melancholy, beautifully drawn out
decorated folkies from both sides of the English/Scottish
and unhurried. There’s clearly no rush to get anywhere too
border, he’s had a vision of folk’s grandeur and, on Under
quickly. But then, a full five minutes in, the pace suddenly
One Sky, he’s delivered a suite of tunes and ballads that’s
increases, McCusker galloping away with devilish fury. After
utterly immaculate.
that lengthy instrumental piece, the singers then have their
say: Causley’s smart, controlled baritone, Tams’ charming
Let’s just have a quick run-through some of the most narration and Fowlis’s beautiful phrasing of her native
notable members of the assembled throng. Stepping up language. Woomble then injects some darkness and drama
to the mic, it’s John Tams, one of these islands’ foremost into proceedings on Long Time Past, while Coxon’s own
balladeers. Why, over there, isn’t that the utterly divine and All Has Gone adds Home Counties charm to a suite that’s
hugely celebrated Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis? From the world otherwise decidedly Celtic in flavour.
of rock, here’s Graham Coxon (recently reunited with his
Blur colleagues) and Idlewild frontman Roddy Woomble. It
Two more McCusker tunes, Jack Seward’s and Boys Of The
doesn’t stop there. Additional vocals come courtesy of fruity
Puddle, round the suite off and an hour of your life has
voiced man of Devon, Jim Causley, while regular McCusker
elapsed. But you’re unlikely to spend too many hours in
collaborators Andy Cutting and Ian Carr supply respective
more blissful, fraternal and inspiring company. Under One
accordion and guitar. And at the centre of it all is John
Sky is a triumph of thinking that bit bigger.
Nige Tassell
flowing tone pictures maybe. Another big change is that we’d
gigged all the pieces extensively before entering the studio
to record Lightweights And Gentlemen, but this time around
half, probably more, were only tried out for the first time at
rehearsals and so have kind-of-evolved in the studio since last
November.”
But does this mean the sublime anarchy of the Lau we know
and love from Lightweights and the Live CD is now reined
in and mapped out? “Far from it! We still play like maniacs,
but each piece grows more organically with the spontaneous
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interaction occurring during rehearsals; it’s more a genuine
collaboration, so there’s less individual responsibility for each
for tour dates
tune. We’ve also experimented with fresh angles and textures,
using some extra colours to enhance (electric piano, guitar
effects and such) – things we’d like to do live but just don’t
J
anuary 2009: a freezing cold shed in North Berwick is visited have the spare hands!… And our producer, Calum Malcolm,
by the Folk Police… “Allau allau, wot’s all this ’ere then?” he’s been like a fourth member of the band, having much more
Nothing untoward, Officer – just those fiery, multi-award- input this time and at an earlier stage in the whole process, it’s
FOLK
winning young musos Martin Green, Aidan O’Rourke and Kris been like having another set of ears we could call on!”
Drever putting the finishing touches to their (eagerly-awaited)
next studio album (due for release March 28th).
Finally, Martin reassured me that despite the ongoing
development of Lau’s instrumental repertoire, Kris’s
Actually the sounds emanating from the shed’s magnificent voice was not being sidelined, for the
darker recesses are even more ethereal than as yet untitled new album will contain three songs:
we’re used to hearing from Lau, as Martin two of Kris’s own compositions in fact, together
rushed to explain: “Today we’ve brought with a revisit of Banks Of Marble. So plenty to look
in Karine Polwart, Corrina Hewat and Inge forward to, then: certainly the lads themselves were
Thomson to do some angel-witchy backing tremendously excited on hearing the mixes for the
vocals for us, like using their voices as first time – that sure came through lau-d and clear!
instruments almost. But we’ve gone for a more
spacey, atmospheric sound generally; and one
STOP PRESS! The album is called Arc Light and
of the main differences with the new album
Kris’ songs Wintermoon is the best thing we’ve
is, the instrumental tracks are less like sets of
Arc Light
heard him sing yet.
Navigator Records
tunes strung together and more like unified
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David Kidman
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