Benji Kirkpatrick and The Excess – Gold Has Worn Away
Westpark – Out Now
Benji takes a side step from Steeleye Span, Faustus and the Seth Lakeman band to put together a folk power trio and showcase his own songs. The results are persuasive and impressive…
Benji Kirkpatrick’s multiple talents as a master musician of all things stringed – bouzouki, mandolin and tenor banjo – and his pure, heartfelt vocals meant that he has never been a sideman. But he’s never quite claimed the limelight either.
Best known for being a member of the rolling-folk behemoth Bellowhead, Benji dabbled as a solo in 2008 act with an album of self-penned material, Boomerang. Commitments with a myriad of other acts meant the material was never performed live. In 2015 he surprised many with the album Hendrix Songs which re-discovered the music of the legendary guitarist as a songwriter rather than just spectacle.
And in many ways, Gold Has Worn Away is a continuation, the makeup of the band echoing the power trio formula – of which the Jimi Hendrix Experience was arguably the pinnacle – albeit with a folky twist. Alongside Benji on string things and lead vocals are The Excess: fellow ex-Bellowhead member (currently banging for Oysterband) Pete Flood on drums and Pete Thomas (Jackie Oates, Megan Henwood) on bass. The only other contributors are two guest vocalists, Rowan Godel and Janie Mitchell.
But the glorious sound they make together is something rather special. The subject matter (mostly story songs with a social conscience) is firmly in the folk/singer songwriter tradition, but their approach is more indie pop/rock/new wave. Which means it takes a while (well it did for this listener) to marry up the two seemingly disparate strands. But, of course, when it begins to fuse, it’s all rather brilliant.
The album’s broad themes seem to be – as borne out by the title – that the promises of Western capitalism have been shown to be only surface deep. And, of course, with the double edge that most of our wealth has been plundered from other nations, leaving them devastated as a result.
The album sets out its intent with the riff-and-hook heavy Pinned Down, where you can feel Benji setting out his intent. It’s a heady, powerful, angry, but uplifting mix. Track two, Hiring Fair, shares a title with Ralph McTell’s tale of a day labourer in olde England. Benji’s song brings the scenario up-to-date with the story of a worker in the black market ‘gig economy’. Basically, the tale of a human being forced to stand in line and tout for work for very little reward.
Meanwhile, the yearning Valley of Green paints a bleak picture of environmental degradation resulting in unimaginable human suffering. Despite the subject matter, it has an enthralling chorus. Alongside the powerful songs are three instrumentals that temper the mood a little. The best of these is the aptly-titled Stuck in a Loop which is so unbelievably catchy that your brain tries to identify where it has heard the tune before. And if not, why not…?
So while I welcome this new rising star, I hope Benji finds the time to keep up adding his magnificence to all the other projects he is involved in. But also that he finds the time and energy to continue working with The Excess. This is solid gold stuff from a veteran artist who deserves to come into the spotlight.
Gold Has Worn Away is out now. Order via Bandcamp