Findlay Napier & Megan Henwood – The Story Song Scientists
Dharma Records – 15 March 2019
That Scottish folk artist Findlay Napier and Oxford singer-songwriter Megan Henwood met by chance at a songwriting retreat is well-documented, and this release underlines the fortunate stroke of serendipity that life oft-times throws out.
The six co-written tracks on this E.P. reflect the considerable talent possessed by each artist, and whilst this collaboration can be seen as a departure for Megan, in terms of her previous nature-themed release River, songs related to esoteric, quirky subjects or individuals, (compliment intended), have been a positive feature of Findlay’s work, (reference his excellent VIP and Glasgow releases), and, on the evidence presented here, is something that also comes naturally to her.
Opening track, Unnameable Radio, beginning appropriately enough with crackling radio static, recalls the true story of New York WBAI DJ Bob Fass, who during his 6th November 1971 Radio Unnameable broadcast received a call from a suicidal listener. Bob managed to keep the caller talking on the line for two hours, long enough for the radio station staff to trace the call and alert the relevant authorities, thus saving the man’s life. The sheer potency of the story is well-captured and wonderfully delivered.
The second cut has Megan to the fore vocally on a thoroughly contemporary-sounding song, Shepherd, which evokes both a pastoral sensitivity alongside elements of a more preternatural complexion. Over some very imposing guitar work, the top-class juxtaposition of their respective voices is masterful on this allegorical shepherd and sheep tale.
The aforementioned initial meeting between the pair, with Findlay’s opening “Fancy writing a song about maths?” gambit, resulted in End of Numbers, a song referencing the German mathematician Georg Cantor, the creator of ‘set theory’, and his struggle with infinity, maths, God and his peers. Not your run-of-the-mill folk subject admittedly, but, as with Charlie Dore’s Dark Matter, a vivid example of how talented word-smiths can bring to life the unusual and, to non-scientists/mathematicians, obscure. The fact that the lyrics are accompanied by a particularly tuneful melody renders this an especially memorable track.
Christopher Thomas Knight lived the life of a hermit for 27 years, until his arrest in 2013, in Central Maine. Surviving entirely on food, clothing and necessities such as propane gas stolen from homes around his hidden forest hermitage, his story provides the inspiration for North Pond Phantom. The empathy contained within the lyrics is wonderfully echoed in the warmth of the vocals in a song which appears specifically to question the treatment meted out to Knight, but also social conscience.
Penultimate track, Wild Wild Country is a very powerful offering on which the duo really shine as a single entity. Lyrics such as
‘It’s ‘84 and its over’
alongside
‘Cross my legs and close my eyes
Sign up for a paradise’
Under an Oregon sky
Show me how to live my life’
suggest that the subject matter is the 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack, in which salad bars were deliberately contaminated with salmonella. With its chugging rhythm and eminently catchy chorus, this one song is worth the admission fee alone.
The CD closes with The Last Straw, a clever title for a serious song which is an ecological entreaty relating to single-use plastics and the proliferation of plastic waste in the oceans. The beguiling beauty of Megan’s voice is particularly apparent on this track, which appears to feature, somewhat fittingly, the artificial, plastic sounds of a 1968 stylophone, (unless, of course, Findlay is an aficionado of the more recent Dubreq S1,S2 or Gen X-1 versions).
The Story Song Scientists is a wonderfully intriguing release which showcases intelligent songwriting and delightful voices in equal measure. The synergy between Megan and Findlay is palpable, and it is to be hoped that we have not seen or heard the last of their working together to produce music of the finest quality.
https://www.findlaynapier.com/