Mitchell and Vincent – The Preservation of Fire
Self Released – Out Now
I must thank David Mitchell and Graham Vincent for bringing to my attention something that Gustav Mahler said: “tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire”. Whilst it is tempting to take that as a starting point and fill up your time with an essay, I shall forgo that pleasure – for the moment at least – and concentrate on Mitchell and Vincent’s new album The Preservation of Fire.
This is the third from these chaps and as with the previous one, is entirely their own work: recording, mixing, artwork etc. What we hear is what they hear. It is very personal but is also shared with us all. The standards are very high, and the sound is clear, crisp and natural. If you have not come across them before, you will be in for a very pleasant surprise, an eclectic but constrained selection of tunes and songs from Oxford to Ireland, from laments to jigs and from ancient to modern.
The tunes do have a distinctly Irish flavour but I suggest that that is more because they are good tunes than for any other reason. Covering Ground is one of the more modern ones and comes from Diarmaid Moynihan, the uilleann piper and member of a large family of Irish musicians; this is coupled with, perhaps not without some thought, The King Of the Pipers, a tune that has been around for a long, long time and is said to be traditional in County Donegal though from where it originates is probably lost in the mists of Erin. Suffice to say, this example of matching tunes from different times does not jar and contributes to the duo’s wide appeal. The Road to Gloutane and The Last House in Ballymakea are similar in age – well, at least in the same century, the latter by Junior Crehan but again the age does not matter. What does, is the playing.
I also would like to draw your attention to Seven Stars/The Sloe, which has inspired me to try coupling tunes in my very basic piano practice, and the twelve minutes of six tunes at the end of the album. Sitting still to these might suggest that something is very wrong with you.
There are four songs on the album. I particularly like As I Roved Out, full of the pathos that is required without being sugary, a condition that can often occur and spoil it for the listener. The songs don’t hide the instruments either – listen to the guitar on Twas on An April Morning, as much a part of the song as the singer.
Despite there being fewer songs than tunes, one could say that the songs carry the message of the album, that of preserving the fire of tradition but being as mindful of the now as of the then. As someone reported to the duo, and I agree with that person, their music is timeless. It is traditional and contemporary, whatever all that means. If it infers (or is it implies?) that the music is good no matter its age, then that is what it does mean.
There is social commentary proving that whatever age, there is something to write about. The tradition is not about nostalgia but about the people, the folk recording the stories of the time. As an example of the then, Hard Times of Old England (coupled with Molly Oxford), a song that possibly comes down to us from the 18th century, illustrates how far we have not progressed – our employment levels may be better than that period but poverty is still with us, ‘so what’s a poor man and his family to do’, except resort to the foodbank.
And then just to underline the point that nothing is new, and to put on record the story of now, the last of the songs, written in 2018, asks
Oh Albion what have you done?
Bought a cheap ticket to set yourself free?
As David and Graham say, any similarities between this little ditty about trips to the seaside and Brexit ‘are entirely intentional’. Somehow they must have known that even though it was recorded in 2018 it would be still be as relevant a year later, and who knows for how long?
So, there you have it. Timeless; exquisite production; great selection of tunes; social commentary. What’s not to dislike? Nothing. But what has lifted it even higher for me is that my partner says that she really likes it. Now that kind of praise is extremely rare.
Order via Bandcamp https://mitchellandvincent.bandcamp.com/album/the-preservation-of-fire
https://mitchellandvincent.com