Sam Lee – Old Wow
Cooking Vinyl – 31 January 2020
Conservationist, promoter, activist, broadcaster, song collector; whether he anticipated it or not, Sam Lee has found himself lead-man in a number of different roles. His 2012 Mercury-nominated debut and 2015 follow-up both broke new ground in their ambition and scope, sending ripples far outside of the contemporary British folk scene. However, never before have the many strands of Lee’s work come together as they do on Old Wow.
In an attempt to reflect on and rekindle his lifelong affinity with the natural world, everything came into focus for Lee after undertaking a two-day vision quest on a Scottish mountainside. Caught in an existential bind, Sam describes what happened next:
“A buzzard came swooping down and screeched right over my head then circled above me for some while sounding down onto me. At that moment I felt the presence and reassurance of this magical power and suddenly at that moment the name appeared, Old Wow, and I’ve held onto it ever since.”
This idea of returning to the source runs throughout Old Wow, as Lee looks to locate that “ancient resonance. A vibration, there within the old folk songs”. A pronounced sense of energy that he admits to also feeling in the presence of an old oak tree, for example. In a piece concerning Lee’s song collecting work with Romany travellers, Ed Vulliamy once wrote: “Lee’s affinity to wilderness, and sensitivity to other planes, did not only bring him to these people – it enables him to conjoin what they know” and it’s these same qualities that are key to the brilliance of Old Wow.
The Garden of England (Seeds of Love) offers a fitting introduction. The first song Cecil Sharp ever collected (from a gardener called John England, no less), here we get a window into the manner in which Lee reimagines his material, as he gives it “a new potency and communique, through polished up old wisdoms almost lost, now with a renewed sense of heart and orientation”. Opening with a plucked, primal pulse, from a ground layer of chiming piano and churning electric guitar, Lee’s vocal branches out. In this ‘song about songs’ the timeworn soars, as Lee declares boldly “out of decay new life springs”
Lee’s latest single, Lay This Body Down, a free slave song originating from the South Carolina islands follows. The song’s torchlit video features Lee rowing downriver under the cover of darkness, playing out both the ferryman and the passover. The theme of death and rebirth reappears, both lyrically and visually, as Lee fights to free himself from the ‘pool of souls’ clutches of the Ballet Rambert dancers. Musically, the spiritual undergoes its own transformation, ascending with a bruising Johnny Flynn swagger to a chorus of flared brass and strings.
Many of the tracks seem imbued with a mystical quality and none more than the spine-tingling, time stalling The Moon Shines Bright featuring the Cocteau Twin’s Elizabeth Fraser. Possessing the same elemental power as one-offs such as Kate Bush or Björk, ethereal and featherlight, Fraser has a voice like no other. It’s beautifully paired with Lee’s rich tone and measured delivery, and together they take this blessing to new heights. The presence of Freda Black and Shirley Collins (two tradition bearers or profound importance to Lee) are deeply felt in the music, as it builds subtly with the flutter of violin and piano: “For our time is not long, time’s an old folk song. No longer can we stay. Those that remember say: blessed are you all, that make it through this brawl. Long life and another good year” he sings, as the song grows in intensity and Fraser joins him in harmony, notes evaporating on impact.
Like previous releases, Lee still has a way of bringing together a remarkable cast of players and the musicianship remains exceptional. However, although their classical elements have carried over, the exotic textures of his past records feel more refined on Old Wow. Now it’s slightly harder to discern the fusion of multicultural influences in the music; they’re still there, it’s just that each part and player falls into place so effortlessly and organically. These songs are loose, sparse and sombre one moment, then dynamically swell to a grand, ornate flourish the next. Tracks occasionally take on a trancelike quality, allowing ample space for striking lead lines to cut in, like with Caoimhin Ó Raghallaigh’s Hardanger violin for example.
On producing and playing on Old Wow, Bernard Butler’s desire was to capture Sam as a soul singer. And that’s exactly what we get. With Lee’s impassioned baritone at the forefront, the arrangements allow him the freedom of movement an unaccompanied singer might enjoy, as he flirts with unusual note choices, fluidly experiments with delivery and his melodies stray from the beaten path.
Next Green Grows The Rushes opens up to a stirring variation of The Waterson’s Souling Song, with images of the sacred and profane spilling over on Soul Cake, before Lee retells the epic lament of Spencer the Rover. The neo-classical lean of Jasper Sea follows, fading into a stark, heavy-hearted rendition of Sweet Sixteen. Then having listened through the ‘heart’ and ‘hearth’ portions of the album, we come to ‘earth’, where three parting songs concerned with the climate crisis and what we’re leaving behind for future generations close.
Known for hosting a range of unique live events with London’s Nest Collective – as well as outdoor projects such as Singing With Nightingales and the Salmon & Turtle Dove pilgrimages – the inclusion of Turtle Dove now seems appropriate. As the song takes a dour minor turn, with a choral openness Lee sings “I shall mourn for thee”, a sentiment then reflected on the free folk, quietly psychedelic Worthy Wood, as he defiantly warns, “inherit no-one’s tragedy”. Passed down from his mentor Stanley Robertson, accompanied only by glacial pads and twinkling atmospherics, for the album’s finale Balnafanen, Lee’s lone voice – or rather the memory of a voice – ghosts above a snow bitten plain.
During the recording process, the ensemble apparently received upsetting news of the passing of several close friends and family members. Yet, out of this absence and loss, a sense of hope and pride seems to prevail. At last year’s BBC Folk Awards, Lee was seen with ‘No Folk Song On A Dead Planet’ emblazoned across his chest (a take on the Music Declares Emergency slogan) and finally we get to hear his quintessential act of resistance, as he channels that same clear-eyed conviction and boundless curiosity into his most direct, urgent and moving record to date.
Sam is currently on a 16-date UK album tour, see below:
TOUR DATES
31 January 2020 Newcastle Cluny
01 February 2020 Manchester Night and Day
03 February 2020 Nottingham Rescue Rooms
04 February 2020 Leeds City Varieties
05 February 2020 Birmingham Glee
06 February 2020 Exeter Phoenix
07 February 2020 Bodmin St Petroc’s Church
08 February 2020 Lyme Regis Marine Theatre
10 February 2020 Cambridge Junction 2
13 February 2020 Brighton St George’s
15 February 2020 Canterbury Gulbenkian Theatre
16 February 2020 Norwich Open
17 February 2020 London EartH
19 February 2020 Bristol St George’s
21 February 2020 Cardiff The Gate
Tickets available here: https://samleesong.co.uk/live/