StevieRay Latham – StevieRay Latham and the Nomads of Industrial Suburbia
SR24 Records – Out Now
With this latest EP release, it is clear that Devon-born, BBC Folk Award-nominated StevieRay Latham has no intention of letting grass grow below his feet. In a deliberate move to meet a desire to get a bigger sound, he has eschewed the earlier, more intimate recordings undertaken in Peter Bruntnell’s home-studios and chosen instead to utilise a professional recording setting. Returning to his coastal home town in north Devon, the songs are written and performed by Latham, who also co-engineered and produced, and he is joined by Simon Murfet who plays drums on three tracks and Amy Newton who provides some backing vocals. Produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Mark Aubrey at his Saunton Road Studios, the resultant collection is a delightful aural confection, combining synth, guitar work which is both lusty and beautifully subtle, highly effective drums patterns, all of which is sometimes developed over swirling layers of atmospheric field recordings.
Delicate instrumental opener, the short La Forêt, presumably recorded in the Haute-Vienne department commune of Châteuneuf-la-Forêt, gently introduces the listener to Everything Changes, a song which reflects on the passage of time and changes. The slow tempo, with insistent drum back-beat, gradually builds to a crescendo over StevieRay’s gossamer-like vocals, as heavily overdriven guitar bursts the bucolic atmosphere that had been created before subsiding and returning to a pastoral sound-scape complete with bird sound.
The Nomads Of Industrial Suburbia moniker possibly sounds enigmatic and has been explained in a previous FRUK interview. Basically Latham had a plan to make his way back to the UK, travelling overland from Singapore, documenting the route with video, linking the places “into a flowing collage of cultures that encapsulates this idea of ‘Nomads of Industrial Suburbia’“. The current pandemic foreshortened this plan. Fortunately, enough of this project had taken place to provide footage for the video to accompany Thief, previously awarded a Folk Radio ‘Song of the day‘ accolade. The insistent, pulsating and totally captivating opening riff, to these ears, is redolent of other nomads, those of a Tuareg persuasion, before seducing the listener with another hook that brings to mind the chorus of Chicago’s I’m A Man. With lyrics referencing political corruption, this is a truly memorable track.
A total contrast in style follows, evidencing the depth and versatility of StevieRay’s singer-songwriter skills. Madeline‘s stripped-back, apparent, simplicity evokes Nick Drake-era folk at its very best. All change again for the final cut, the up-tempo, chugging I Don’t Mind and a reminder that, lyrically, Latham often walks on the dark side.
This EP epitomises why I derive so much pleasure listening to music. Engaging, entertaining and musically astute; it should be on everyone’s playlist.
Order StevieRay Latham and the Nomads of Industrial Suburbia via Bandcamp