Ben Walker – The Fox on the Downs
Self Released – 14 September 2018
Best known as being one half of Josienne Clark and Ben Walker, when your musical partner is such a big personality as Josienne, it must be tempting to hide from the limelight. So it’s a welcome move that Ben Walker has released his first solo release, a beautiful four-track EP.
Also known for his skilful arrangements and sympathetic music production – behind the desk for albums by O’Hooley and Tidow, Jackie Oates, Naomi Bedford & Paul Simmonds, Emily Mae Winters and Daria Kulesh amongst many others – it’s his guitar work that really sets Ben apart. Total Guitar hailed him as one of ‘the best acoustic guitarists in the world right now’. And Ben is one of the few pickers who can open for Richard Thomson and comfortably be described as being in the same league.
A master of deft and intricate fingerstyle guitar, Ben has chosen to highlight his musicianship on this CD release with jaw-dropping arrangements of four solo guitar instrumentals.
Perhaps a nod to the longstanding folk club in the Oxfordshire town, A Trip To Nettlebed is an arrangement of an 18th-century English country dance tune. Taken at a stately pace, it’s an astonishingly confident performance. You feel like the guitarist is the same room as you, such is the intimate production and Ben’s presence.
Lachrimae Pavan follows, penned by renowned 16th-century composer John Dowland it is a more reflective piece, transported from lute to acoustic guitar but losing none of the precision or warmth. It’s a renaissance reinterpretation par excellence.
The second half showcases Ben Walker’s own tunes, which easily stand alongside the traditional opener and Dowland’s dance. Starting with the pairing of A Day at the Races / The Fox on the Downs, the first of which was apparently inspired by Ben watching his dog running on Brighton Racecourse, and the second named after a nearby East Sussex pub. Also firmly-footed in the folk tradition, The Cross Kings / The Pepperpot (another Brighton landmark, methinks) follow, closing an exquisite, small but satisfying collection.
It’s a warm and understated EP, reminiscent to my ears of John Renbourn’s 1977 release on the KPM label, The Guitar Of John Renbourn. While its charms are undoubtable, the subtlety and complexity of the guitar work is really rather astonishing. You get the feeling that this is what Ben Walker does as a ‘hobby’ when not co-fronting one of the most exciting duos in the contemporary folk world, or being a producer-in-demand for the great and greater.
My only criticism, and it’s a selfish request, is for a whole album’s worth of these tunes. I can think of no better way to enjoy a trek across Sheepcote Valley, Three Cornered Copse or Devil’s Dyke (and that’s not even venturing further than Brighton) than accompanied by Ben Walker’s masterful guitar on my headphones. More, please!
Ben Walker’s ‘The Fox on the Downs’ is available via Bandcamp https://benwalkermusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-fox-on-the-downs-ep
https://www.benwalkermusic.com