Fran Wyburn: Wood For The Trees

Fran Wyburn – Wood For The Trees

Yellow Door Records – 2 March 2018

Is there room for yet another singer-songwriter attempting to ply their trade in what, at times, might appear to be a saturated market. Well, the answer is a resounding yes if that artist is Fran Wyburn, and if the music offered matches the originality of that presented on Wood From The Trees.

With a c.v. that encompasses, amongst other things, seven years of community theatre projects, a year travelling, during which she embarked upon learning guitar, busking and writing songs which drew to some extent upon the experiences gained on her world-wide journeys, culminating in a return to England to undertake a Masters Degree at Leeds College of Music, after having opted to seek the life of a touring songwriter.

Following the release of two successful E.Ps , Little Moments in 2014, and Postcards, 2016, of which Folk Radio’s Founder & Editor Alex Gallacher said ‘a captivating listen and one I could happily lose myself in…’ , Fran releases her debut full-length album, Wood For The Trees, on her own label, both the video of the first single, Foolish Sea, and the title track having premiered on Folk Radio.

Produced by Dan Webster at his home studio in York, the album was recorded over the summer of 2017 by Fran and her musical collaborator George Birkett. The ascribed musical credits are Fran Wyburn guitar, piano, vocals, Rachel Brown cello, Rosie Evans backing vocals and George Birkett guitar, vocals, percussion, bass, the latter two at one time being members of Wyburn’s group The Indigos.

The songs presented on this release were collected over time, and whilst there is more than a nod, lyrically, to the natural world, in particular, the mountain, deserts and ocean landscapes visited, Fran confesses that she considers her broken heart provided the greater inspiration for her creativity.

This personalisation, drawing on first-hand life experiences, the subject in which she is best-versed, more than pays dividends as the listener is guided along a journey which is as emotional as it is intimate, whilst mirroring a personal growth and maturity that can only come through having both suffered and celebrated life’s fortunes and misfortunes.

Opening track Foolish Sea gets straight to the heart of the matter, with lyrics such as

‘Oh, foolish sun,
You didn’t even need to shine your rays when he was around’

with the alluring vocals at times sounding like a hybrid cross between Dr Strangely Strange and Kate Bush. The sparse simplicity of the solo voice and acoustic guitar accompaniment present on title track Wood For The Trees is effective, and again echoes elements of 1960s psych folk.

One of the greatest strengths of this album is the sheer breadth and diversity of the music on offer, such is the eclectic nature of Fran’s song-writing. As the album unfolds, and each track is revealed, the listener is enticed down an open road of anticipation, there are no cul-de-sacs here.

Thus, at one end of the spectrum we are presented with the jaunty, breezy and genial Happy Forever After, an early song written when she was 26, and sounding in places, please don’t mock, like Lily Allen, and the equally chirpy Mr Blackbird, with its upbeat, Caribbean/calypso-like lilt.

Providing an antithesis to this we get melancholic offerings such as Set Sail with its piano accompaniment and simple percussion building to a crescendo then a diminuendo before ending with a tasteful guitar figure. In the same vein, the sombre Sorry Heart is a plaintive song of loss, as is Pass On By in which doleful piano and celestial sounding vocal harmonies mirror perfectly the sentiments of the lyrics

‘Your blustery storm has blown and bore me down autumn leaves to the ground
Your winds whisked away what’s left of summer dreams, through my oaky seams’

Webster’s production leaves ample space for the sensitive arrangements to add value to the overall sound. These can be heard to good effect on both Rumi Said, with its preternatural qualities, and the dreamy Snowdrops And Me. Fran has mused over the fact that the seasons are often reflected in her work and here, as she draws an analogy between snowdrops and her life, a comparison which gives hope for optimism, this is borne out. The decision to make a clean break, or at least move on, seems apparent

‘for 33 years I’ve tried to deny any pain ‘everything is always fine’
but I’m now making room’.

Breathe, a stripped back, intimate acoustic song with clear harmonies, precedes album closer Me And Me, which was written some 10 or 11 years ago. Another delicate, unadorned piece, this rounds off the album on an optimistic note

‘there will be days when our world feels turned upside down
we gotta keep learning, the world will keep turning turn itself a better way around’

For those looking for originality and an alternative to the bland offerings of ‘mainstream’ singer-songwriters, then Wood For The Trees blows in like a breath of fresh air on a balmy spring day.