Alnwick & Tyne (Midnight Music)
We're
not talking accessibility when considering Blyth Power, something which
may leave the most receptive of listeners a touch baffled. And no concessions
are made at all with the new album Alnwick & Tyne. The record shows
that their old formula of English country, hymnal song construction and
guitars on overdrive has been sharpened and tuned-up. The production of
this latest is the best so far in conveying all aspects of Josef Porta's
idiosyncratic brainchild.
Josef's dramatic, even operatic (to the point of emotive vibrato) west
country vocal throes, backed by a melodic indie female chorus and the
thrashing tempos of the rhythm section make for an unlikely brew. All
this made even more distinctive by the highly subjective lyric. With a
lust for English history both vocabulary and theme are often archaic,
but all the more vivid and potent for it.
That the purple prose, invocations and stanzaic form have left many a
critic dumbfounded is the subject for the best track on the album 'The
Thin Red Line', which features a very daring dance tempo change midway.
Maybe the album's best example of his epic narrative, however, is the
title track.
Musicianship is brash and loud in the best possible taste. I still reckon
Josef Porta is the best example of a singer with conviction whilst holding
down a tight drum rhythm section since the wonderful Levon Helm.
Sarah
Coxson
Folk Roots