Neighbours
and Sisters Bird In The Belly
GFM Records/Cargo Music
Down in Sussex there's been a
developing Folk scene scene for a few years now,with pockets of
talent like Bird In The Belly,Mike Reinstein,Green Ribbons and
Hickory Signals among those currently producing some quality music.
Occasionally they will venture further north to share this bounty
with us-both Reinstein and BITB appear at Nuneaton Folk Club in 2020
Brighton-based BITB describe
themselves as a “collective,”
which has quaint echoes of Haight-Ashbury,Greenham Common and Laurel
Canyon for those of us over sixty. Neighbours
and Sisters was released
this October. It follows “The
Crowing,” a debut album
last year. Thanks to some distinctive and instantly recognisable
vocals from Ben 'Jinwoo' Webb and Laura Ward,that release earned them
a lot of notice. Anker Folk
on Anker Radio nominated
“Give Me Back My Heart
Again” as one of their
top tracks of 2018. Neighbours
and Sisters carries
the potential to repeat the same magic formula.
Only two songs on this album are
original writing:one each from Ben and Laura. But all the
arrangements are very original. Songs are rooted out from various
venerable Folk Song archives then tinkered with and adjusted until
they are BITB property. They hunt out and unearth old songs,blow the
cobwebs off them and then give them a new identity with new
arrangements. There is a Victorian gaslight era feel to some of the
tracks and like much Folk Music, the body count is high. There are
songs about Ladies of The Night working the streets of Yarmouth,songs
about executions,Love affairs gone bad,prisons, workhouses and the
dangers of substance abuse. Powerful stuff.
The melancholy and yearning tone of
“Bright Light” lit
a spark with me. My Grandad famously married his childhood sweetheart
then set off for The Somme with The Royal Warwickshire Regiment after
refusing to consummate the marriage. This was because he did not want
his new bride instantly widowed and left to bring up any children
alone. Having survived Paschendaele he returned intact. The fact
that I'm writing this proves that his noble deed ended eventually in
the patter of tiny feet.
BITB also hit another personal family
target via the brief track “Bees.”
My Mum's Grandad, Albert,
kept bees on a smallholding in Wharfedale. He handed down the
understanding to us all that if you have a bee colony in your garden
you have to keep them informed of events. Deaths,Births,family news
etc. (We have. And I still do). BITB also sometimes weave
ornithological themes into their music. The band's name is an obvious
clue,as was last year's album title. The opening track on Neighbours
and Sisters reflects
this with “Robin
and Starling.” A lovely
piece.
Laura plays flute and sings with
husband Adam Ronchetti in Hickory Signals. She does the same on
Neighbours and Sisters.
Adam adds guitar,shruti and percussion whilst Tom Pryor is a
multi-instrumentalist of many genres who leads the rest of the cast
through the tracks, employing fiddle,electric guitars,organ,banjo and
bass.
The instrumentation lends a slightly
quirky feel to songs like “Coal
Black Wine,” which
despite a fairly jolly rhythm cannot mask the fact that it is about
premature death and lives wasted by alcohol abuse. “King
Death was a peerless fellow,”
warbles Ben cheerfully at the opening, “He
sat where no sun can shine. He lifted his hands so yellow and poured
out the coal black wine.” Nice
image. Ideal listening
on a cold dark All Souls Night or alone on Samhain when all the
bonfires have stopped glowing. Ditto “Newgate
Stone,” which carries an
eerie prophetic tone .
At times there is an element of
darkness to the band and their material. Ben's vocals are gaunt and
anguished at times and Laura's often have a haunting unearthly feel
to them. There can be no more archetypal example of their potent art
than “All You Females.”
Laura's bleak a cappella opening soon gives way to an almost
jaunty,mocking tune and a lyric which describes the exploitation of
helpless women trapped in the workhouse.
It's all slightly gothic and
melodramatic: full of cautionary tales,salutary lessons and
foreboding and I love it. The production,engineering and mastering is
superb. Take a bow,Tom Pryor,Ben Weedon and Paul Adams. The artwork
and photography by Adam Ronchetti and Jinwoo respectively sets the
scene perfectly.
Don't be surprised if you hear that
BITB have eventually attracted the attention of some t.v. producer of
Victorian epics. I can see them eventually contributing soundtrack
to the dark foggy sets of something like Ripper Street,Peaky
Blinders, Gentlemen Jack or a remake of The Crimson Petal and The
White. If and when A Child
of The Jago is dramatised
for television,don't be surprised to see them on the credits, drafted
in by an enlightened Director to help frame the background. You read
it here first.
