A tragic tale about a naked Victorian lifesaver! It can only be another song exclusive for Folk Radio UK from the experimental Mancunians’ Harp & a Monkey.
‘A Naked Man In Paradise’ is the second taste we have given you of the trio’s long-awaited fourth album, The Victorians, which is released on November 25.
The album features a collection of street, parlour, music hall and popular songs from the Victorian era that the song and storytelling trio have reworked for contemporary ears.
‘A Naked Man In Paradise’ is the opening track and tells the tale of a tragic incident that took place on the River Irwell in 1828, prior to the then Princess Victoria taking coronation of the crown.
A fully-rigged boat called The Emma was launched in front of a crowd of thousands only to break her holding ropes, crash into the opposite bank and immediately capsize. Hundreds of people, including 200 guests who were on-board her, were plunged into the cold and toxic water. Thirty-eight people would lose their lives. However, the Harp & a Monkey song pays tribute to a forgotten 39th victim – a fishmonger called John Archer who stripped off, plunged in and saved many lives. Four hours later he finally climbed out to find his clothes had been stolen, and would later die of pneumonia as a direct result.
The video to the song was put together by the trio’s harp, guitar and viola player Simon Jones, who is an award-winning photographic artist and animator. It is part of a creative approach that has also seen the outfit collaborate (for a limited run of pre-orders of the new album) on an art park that includes items from the internationally-renowned Christian Brett and Alice Smith from Bracketpress (who have worked with the likes of Damien Hirst, Yoko Ono, Crass and Sleaford Mods) and a previously unpublished treatise on ‘wonder’ and what it means in the modern age by Boff Whalley of the Commoners’ Choir. (Find out more about this at the trio’s website: www.harpandamonkey.com)
Gigs
Harp & a Monkey will play their final shows of the year, before a full national tour next spring, on:
December 1: BBC Radio Lancashire live audience session, Radio Theatre, Blackburn, Lancs
December 6: Village Pump Folk, Lamb Inn, Trowbridge, Wiltshire
http://www.harpandamonkey.com/