Young Waters – Young Waters
YW Records – 28 September 2018
Following a band-name change, (from Snufkin), and a career path that commenced with busking, progressing through local and nationwide gigs and then festivals, which have included Cecil Sharp House, English Folk Expo, Glastonbury and Cambridge Festivals, Young Waters, (the group as opposed to the Child Ballad), have successfully emerged to become one of ‘the bands to watch out for.’
Those knowledgeable folk down in the West Country also obviously know a thing or two about good music. As a result of winning the New Shoots Competition at the 2016 Bath Folk Festival, Young Waters earned themselves a recording session at Peter Gabriel’s legendary Real World Studios. The resultant debut album, contains six tracks which were recorded in the day they spent there, along with two additional live recordings undertaken in the locality at Norton St. Philip Church.
The band’s line-up comprises Theo Passingham vocals & guitar, Kerry Ann Jangle vocals & percussion, Liam O’Connell double bass & vocals, Calum Smith violin, and Rowen Elliot, viola. Whilst their FaceBook descriptors refer to their music as ‘neo-folk, classical, cinematic’ and ‘Post-emo-hardcore-hip-folk-hop’, and other references allude to similarities with The Incredible String Band, Fleet Foxes and also Philip Glass, I will content myself, initially, by simply describing their music as innovative, enthralling and enchanting.
From the opening strings which introduce the first track Dust, teasingly classical for a few bars, then morphing into something hinting at Celtic influences, before revealing the rich, deep notes of the double bass, these first 50 seconds intriguingly capture the attention from the outset, but then the listener is transported into an almost other-worldy domain as mesmerisingly unique vocal harmonies kick-in to deliver pensive, musing lyrics
‘Everybody sees but no one knows
The light shines on the sockets of your eyes
We just sit and watch and wonder who next dies
We begin to rust
Return to dust
Just another day in the paradise circus’
Of the eight songs on the album, this one, along with six others, was written by Theo, although all arrangements are a collaborative, group effort. Acknowledging that he finds both writing and playing therapeutic, his early experiences of having sung in a church choir seemingly affects how he writes and is reflected in much of the music presented on the album.
What also appears apparent is that there is much mystery within the writing, with lyrics which contain a high number of questions, many of them seemingly rhetorical.
Thus in the delightful, pastoral sounding Don’t Stare at the Sun, over a simple acoustic guitar accompaniment we are urged to contemplate
‘Why did you fly
So close to the sun
Feathers burnt to cinders
Can it all be undone’
whilst on Weary Soul, an achingly beautiful track of over seven minutes, featuring some scintillating violin playing from Calum Smith, the introspection and self-questioning of
‘I was born a weary soul
Already tired of this world
How did I end up here
How did I’
gives some idea of the intensely personal nature of much of the content of this release.
The gentle, atmospheric introduction to Bleary Eyed develops with a faster tempo, as once again strings and vocals meld together delightfully, whilst the sixth track, Eternal Bliss, showcases a feature used to good effect on several tracks, whereby there is an almost staccato-like vocal presentation with the ending of words clipped sharply. The lyrics are again delivered over sonorous double bass and strings, to produce a wistful, dreamy sound.
The variety, in terms of the sonic palate offered on Young Waters, is well-evidenced by the choice and delivery of the two ‘cover’ songs. Firstly, their version of Enemy by Jesca Hoop just oozes class, the divine harmonies and violin combining wonderfully, resulting in a truly captivating track. Similarly, their arrangement of the traditional tragic ballad Polly Vaughn, also known as The Fowler and The Shooting Of His Dear, and recorded by Shirley Collins, Martin Carthy, The Dillards, and more recently Lucy Farrell and The Furrow Collective, however, unlike those versions, it is delivered here unaccompanied, in such a stylish manner that suggests Young Waters have far more to offer than simply ‘neo folk’.
Closing the album is another original song, Swimming Pool, encapsulating all that is good in this group, strong vocals, sweet-toned harmonies, stirring instrumentation with melodies and rhythms that alternate from intricate to exhilarating, and all stations in between. To return to the comparison stakes, for what it is worth, on this track I was reminded of Saturnalia, Wolfstone, and maybe just a tad of Flock.
Young Waters, the album, is a thoroughly enjoyable, innovative offering, and should help Young Waters, the group, to further enhance their presence on the contemporary music radar.
Upcoming Dates
THU 20 SEPTEMBER – Green Note, Camden
SUN 14 OCTOBER – Thekla, Bristol