Hadrian’s Union – Permission
WhapMusic – 15 December 2020
You know that moment, a couple of beers to the good and spoilt for choice, as you lurch from stage to tent, tent to stage, searching for just the right accompaniment for the moment? Well, these guys, Hadrian’s Union, could just hit that spot, that being the mood this five-track EP, Permission, imbue. As with so many others this odd and strange year, this replaces earlier plans of a full album release, which would have been a third.
As the name hints, the band hail from the Anglo-Scottish interface, bringing influences in from both sides of the border, together with a heady whiff of the early 70s, most pronounced in the opener, with echoes of Lindisfarne. Or more accurately, with Jack The Lad. Called Please Dance, I think you might.
A slightly proggy vibe filters into the next track, Oh Louise, the melodeon put down for a bit of electric piano, the guitar weaving dreams in the background, behind some sturdy drums, which seems as good a time to mention these are provided by Saul Rose, Eliza Carthy acolyte, the best-known name here and the album’s producer. His playing is, unsurprisingly, mixed high, yet effectively, linked well to the bass of Graham Jenkinson. I hear the flavours of Marillion.
With an engaging reggae skank, The Poacher is more fun than it ought, this sometimes capable of becoming a gimmick outside the expertise of Edward II. And am I hearing signs of a previous life as a morris-man in melodeon player, Robin Jowett, as a burst of Princess Royal inserts towards the end?
More piano and we are back into progtastic territory, Less Of You, the vocals sufficiently take it or leave it to avoid any risk of pomp, a grower. The guitar of Matt Mellor is again centre-stage. The publicity suggests he is in debt to Brian May, but I won’t hold this against him, especially in the slower section towards the end, where, again, it is Mike Oldfield distorted I hear.
Closer, Be In The Now, strays into lyrical cliche but remains an engaging way to round things out, and would be a set-closer live, especially if the melodeon were whipped out again.
Leader and singer/rhythm guitarist Stew Simpson, who originally started the band as a duo a decade ago, has done well to expand his vision into a fuller band setting, even if I would have liked the fiddle of earlier recordings to have had room for inclusion, however much I love the sound of a melodeon. But that should not break the deal of a rousing set of songs, a taster for more next year, I hope.
Order via Bandcamp: https://hadriansunion.bandcamp.com/album/permission-extended-play