Zoë Wren – Reckless River
Independent – 20 November 2020
In the wider context, these may well be dark times, but there is no question that this is a golden period for the sheer volume of high-quality folk, roots and acoustic music which is currently being produced and released, often under the most trying of circumstances. Add to this growing list, without hesitation, Reckless River, the superb new debut full-length release from Zoë Wren.
Already an award winner, both as a solo singer and as half of the Roswell duo with Jasmine Watkiss, the undoubted promise and talent hinted at in her previous three solo EPs is totally eclipsed on this eagerly awaited album, as Zoë delivers a package of songs which confirms her place at the high table of the current crop of the country’s young singer-songwriters.
Featuring instrumental support from guests Martin Ash, (Kindred Spirit, Flux Ensemble), viola, Jonny Wickham, (Guildhall School of Music), double bass and Eliza Carthy & Mawkin stalwart David Delarre on mandolin, nine of the songs are composed by Zoë herself and reflect a definite sense of having been drawn from personal experiences.
Thematically, the 10 tracks on the album revolve around journeys and movement, both metaphorical and actual, appropriately mirroring the fact that the release has been written and recorded between Zoë’s hometown of London and Switzerland’s Lugano, the location of her recent move to join her partner, and also one of the producers on the album, Tristano Galimberti.
This motif is demonstrated right from the opening track on the release, Smoky Sunrise. Documented as a break-up song for London, the lyrics, which ponder and reflect upon the juxtaposition of both leaving, ‘that warm familiar feeling’, whilst acknowledging ‘But I need something, something else right now’, are gloriously delivered with total precision in a style with intonation, inflections and high notes which evoke Joni Mitchell at her very best; a reference admittedly somewhat echoed by the line ‘Only Joni knows how blue I’m feeling now’.
Similarly, in Elephants and Drums, possible trepidation when musing on a journey of what I interpret to be of a more non-literal kind, as she contemplates ‘Down this reckless river I will ride’, whilst nonetheless expressing concern ‘But I still have visions of that night’, illustrates the maturity and depth of thought within Zoe’s song-writing, with the initial plaintive, melancholic strings leading up to the first chorus being a perfect adjunct.
Come Home which appears later on the album, can also be considered to be a break-up song, suggesting as the lyrics do, in an almost Beatles‘ She’s Leaving Home fashion, a daughter, possibly wife, leaving home for the perceived better life,
‘The grass seems greener on the other side
But the trees are bare and the river’s dry’,
Whilst those remaining plead
‘Won’t you come home
Won’t you come home’
Musically, the track again exemplifies the range and quality of the song-writing. There is, sonically, so much activity in the track, to a thunderous beat with very much an Americana feel, the excellent production certainly gives the song a chance to shine.
There is room too for a little family history. Cecilia, recounts the tale Zoë’s great grandmother from Slovenia, who, altruistically, gave up her aspiration of becoming a nun in order to marry a widower whose wife had just died and to look after his young children. In later life, following the death of her own first-born at a young age, Cecilia had a vision of the latter appearing in a dream.
‘Daughter, why is your night dress so cold and so wet?’
‘Oh mother, I’m soaked in the tears that you shed
But it’s time, you don’t need to cry anymore’
Together, the lyrics and the beautiful melody create an overwhelmingly powerful aural picture that makes it difficult to believe that this not an age-old folk song. If Zoë is more than capable of emulating the Laurel Canyon sound as described earlier, then here the stylistic touchstones would be Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis and Cara Dillon. The ability to more than do justice to the traditional folk canon is further evidenced in the rendition of Let No Man Steal Your Thyme, the Roud ballad, a version of which was the first song ever collected by Cecil Sharp, and the sole track featured not composed by Zoë. The eerily haunting guitar/instrumental, with ethereal wind effects in the background surely suggests that, as on other tracks, there are more instrumental credits than the scant few which appear on the sleeve. What appear to be synthesised sounds, together with acknowledged accompanying instruments, underline and help to showcase not only crystal clear quality of her voice but the sympathetic and symbiotic contribution of the accompanying musicians.
Zoë’s experience of busking on the London Underground has obviously provided a rich vein of inspiration, and four of the remaining songs draw on this. The most recent single, Welcome Here, is a moving account of her observations watching how homeless people, occupying similar spaces to street performers, are treated, indeed for the most part ignored. Ultimately, optimism prevails and this call to show compassion is certainly one of the singles of the year.
Ring In Your Pocket the story of a man who dropped an engagement ring into her guitar case one day, initially begins with superb folk guitar lines, reminiscent of great Dave Evans, before developing more of a jazz-folk feel, all supporting some wonderfully layered multi-tracked vocals. Opening with an almost fairground sounding background, London Town is a perceptive piece of people-watching, snap-shot pen-portraits of Joe, Kim and Sally painted in words, as they make their way through London town. The up-tempo Don’t Touch My Guitar, another Americana/country-tinged/honky-tonk tune, unsurprisingly guitar-led, that fairly chugs along, gives fair warning to those unsavoury characters that, sadly, buskers, as Zoë says, in particular females, have to contend with.
Just because you think I’m small and dainty
Doesn’t mean that I don’t know Kung Fu
So please think twice before you irritate me
Or you might find the tables turned on you
The album closes with the striking What If. Emanating from her experience leading singing workshops in prisons with the charity Sing Inside, the wonderful melody and catchy chorus, worthy of Suzanne Vega, empathetically calls attention to the inequality of life-chances and opportunities afforded inmates
And oh, what if the time
Had flown by a little differently
And oh, what if a life
Was given the chance it needs
With Reckless River, Zoë has produced a mature, exquisitely well-crafted album of great beauty and listening pleasure, deserving of a wide audience.
Pre-Order Reckless River via Bandcamp