The Water Or The Wave is the latest release from M G Boulter which opens to Evelyn a song that is drenched in rootsy influences that have taken this lap steel guitar player on a long journey from his home in Southend-on-Sea to the Catskill Mountains home to Simone Felice whose group Matthew is a member of. When closer to home he’s fronting The Lucky Strikes and is in high demand as a session musician.
Whilst Southend-on-Sea may be the Essex version of the Riviera its extensive foreshore is also home to a wide array of habitats from mudflats to marshland that stretch along that part of the Thames delta. Forget your nightclubs and funfair rides, wander onto those marshes and you’ll feel very isolated and alone apart from the many migratory birds that visit every year. After listening to this introspective album you get the distinct impression that Matthew has spent considerable time on walks along this part of the Essex coast, an area he admits he has come to re-appreciate after touring with both The Lucky Strikes and the Simone Felice Group in 2012.
The songs on The Water Or The Wave sound out imagined coastal tales that bridge between the weightier greyness of those shores to their pastoral brightness which are reflected well on the likes Once I Was and The Thistles and the Thorns. On the former he is more notably supported on vocals by Lizzy O’Connor and Bryony Afferson of London folk trio Troubadour Rose. Add to the equation the many instruments that Boulter masters along with drummer Pick Withers who has played for Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Bert Jansch and you have a great sounding band.
The beautifully illustrated blackbird on the album cover holds some semblance to the simplicity of this roots music album which holds a much deeper beauty in the storytelling songwriting and arrangements. This is a wonderfully moving album that stays with you long after the last track plays.
The Water Or The Wave is released via Harbour Songs on 8 July 2013
Order from: Amazon
Album Launch:
24 September at 19:00
The Slaughtered Lamb in London, United Kingdom