David Ian Roberts – Travelling Bright
Cambrian Records – 15 March 2019
This has been a long time coming. Welsh singer-songwriter David Ian Roberts’ debut, St. Clears, came out more than four years ago and received glowing reviews (Folk Radio review here) and comparisons with Nick Drake and Robert Wyatt. Since then his output has been measured in terms of hours put in on the touring circuit rather than recorded material (though one small but perfectly formed four-song ‘taster’ did emerge in 2016). Travelling Bright, the new album released on Cambrian Records (who also brought us Toby Hay and Rusalnaia) changes that.
If Roberts were taking his cue from the American tradition of guitarists it would be tempting to situate him amongst the primitivists. But there is a sophistication – not just in his playing (a lot of so-called primitivism is extremely sophisticated in many ways) but also in the production and arrangement of his songs – that makes him harder to categorise. The guitar style and the layering of instruments owes as much to Roy Harper as to Robbie Basho. Opening track A Million Winds even has a hint of second-album Fleet Foxes about it, while Sending Out Fires, which first appeared as the title track of that 2016 EP, is more in the lineage of classic British songwriting – think a folkier Andy Partridge or Robyn Hitchcock. Lulling A Greener Man’s verses nod toward the Canterbury prog scene, before soft cellos lend a chamber-folk lushness to proceedings.
Roberts is a superb guitarist, but that’s not the limit to his talent. In fact, he is perhaps at his most interesting when employing unusual instrumentation – the bright zing of an autoharp or a kalimba, for instance. He is equally at home with meandering, wistful pieces (Amber) or more blustery, nimble tunes ( the instrumental Carillon). His voice is unassuming but malleable, and perfectly suited to the impressionistic music – often it is treated as another instrument, its soft timbre seeming to merge with guitar or cello, but when it does come to the fore, as on the title track, the range and control are impressive. And the lyrics are impressive too. Roberts is clearly a logophile and relishes unusual descriptions, inventive juxtapositions and unlikely references (‘a crosshair of spinning octarine’ is one for the Terry Pratchett fans out there, while Glass Bead Game takes inspiration from Hermann Hesse).
The natural world is a frequent preoccupation – The Holloway, which sounds like a piece of poetic nature writing set to music – would make a wonderful companion piece to a rural walk. But, on songs like Grail, Roberts is also happy to create strange quasi-mythological worlds full of cryptic imagery. This is a winning tactic – the quality of the music is such that each song lulls you into its own individual world, and these worlds are always haunting or soothing or full of light. Travelling Bright is not an album of instant, frivolous gratification. Its songs are long and often complex, and it requires concentration on the part of the listener, and a certain level of engagement that a lot of contemporary music – and contemporary culture for that matter – does not seem to value. But the more you engage with music the more rewarding it can be, and Travelling Bright might just be one of the most rewarding albums you’ll hear all year.
David is on touring now, check his website for details: http://www.davidianroberts.com/