Harbottle And Jonas

Continuing the trend of republishing Album reviews which have already  appeared in publications like Folk Monthly here is my take on this album, released last month. I think I saw them advertised at The Wurzel Bush in Rugby later this year? 

The Sea is My Brother         Harbottle & Jonas Brook     

View Records

        As befits an album recorded in Cornwall, a fourth album from a husband and wife team resident in an adjacent county with two coastlines, this is a nautical-themed homage to the sea. It is a godsend for a broadcaster like myself who likes occasionally to include a thematic night among the fortnightly radio shows. But themed albums,especially maritime ones are always a bit of a gamble. This is an adventurous project,for rather than rehash or regurgitate thousands of songs which already exist on such a topic,nine of the eleven tracks are original compositions.    Of the remainder, “Was it You?” is a Mike Silver arrangement of a song written by Ewen Carruthers. “Hall Sands” is a John Masefield poem set to an original tune.

      The playlist reads like a roll call of heroic disaster at times. Captain Scott,Grace Darling and The Titanic all get a mention. “Lost To The Sea” has a melancholy air to it, enriched by some eerie faraway choral singing. It commemorates the awful Morecambe Bay Tragedy. This particularly treacherous stretch of sand has claimed many more lives than those of the unfortunate Chinese cockle pickers who were trapped there and out run by a vicious tide.

       “Headscarf Revolutionaries” spiritedly recalls local,(angry)  reaction to the loss of three Hull Trawlers in three months during 1968. As with Grace Darling,celebrated in “A Lady Awake,” amidst the carnage and suffering there is inspirational bravery and courage. I loved the slightly manic singing at the end of “Fr Thomas Byles,”-a Titanic hero in every sense, who sacrificed his own life so others on the ill-fated stricken liner might survive.

       The duo alternate on songwriting duties. Some of the original lyricism is first class. It is an easy mistake for a songwriter to make to wade into the quicksand of overplayed metaphor or cliched imagery. But on the whole whoever is responsible for the lyrics manages to avoid that trap.

       The album is an academic work with a lot of thought and research put into creating it. This works best on “Saved Alone,” the awful tale of Anna Spafford and her personal sense of loss at the hands of the liner Ville De France. She survived its shipwreck but it took all four of her daughters to the bottom of the ocean.

        The musicianship is accomplished and imaginative. David Harbottle provides guitar and banjo whilst Freya Jones turns her hand to concertina and harmonium. The instrumentation is enhanced by contributions from Mark Nesbitt (violin),Jenny Jonas (oboe and vocals), Jude Wright (cello/mandolin),Kris Lannen (additional vocals),Andy Tyner (trumpet),Daniel Cleave (double bass/mandola)),and Adam Brackley(drums). “Elizabeth Prettejohn” is the only instrumental. It features some fine guitar picking,further decorated by drums and a trumpet.

        There seems a certain dichotomy in a title track stating “The Sea is My Brother” and the litany of death,disaster, tragedy and despair that unfolds as each tale is told. It is a phrase attributed to Kerouac, but to me the actions of the sea are less than fraternal. The random mayhem it brings upon the unsuspecting sometimes is certainly not the reaction one might expect of a caring sibling. Don't get me wrong I love the sea-I could watch it for hours. But from a balcony with a cup of tea,or on a pier head,waiting for a watched rod to dip. I don't trust it for one minute. More a cruel mistress than a brother,in my humble opinion.

    The harmony singing throughout is near perfect,with the additional ornament of some clever variations on choral singing. Comparisons are often odious but I mean it as a compliment when I say that the songwriting style has an element of the Young Un's about it,and at times the singing reminds me of The Lakeman clan. Particularly in my favourite track “The Saucy Sailor Boy,” where a traditional song is jazzed up a little to provide some welcome relief. Everyone unwinds and relaxes on this and lets go a bit. “Liverpool City” too has pace motion and movement to it.

         Just before Christmas I was invited to judge a songwriting competition with the theme of...yes,turning tides. By the end of this and the subsequent presentation evenings,I had sand a plenty between my toes and motion sickness from being rocked,rowed,drifted sunk,etc.And yet...here we are again. What a good job we are a seafaring nation!

     Harbottle and Jonas embark on a tour in 2019 which extends from one end of the country to another. From Inverness and Stonehaven in the north to Bovey Tracey in the South West and with London dates in Putney,Kingston and Peckham. Many of the venues are coastal,including Watchet,Lowestoft and Leith. The album is a nailed on must have for those who enjoy rippling sails,busy docksides and crowded harbours. If keening winds,creaking timbers and the ever present tang of salt are not your thing,best catch them in Birmingham,where they stray inland on the 4^th March.