TRADarrr – Strange News
Hedge of Sound (HOS26) – 29 January 2021
Pretty much starting with their arrival on the scene in 2015, TRADarrr adopted the tagline, “a new take on traditional British folk music”. Strange News, their third album, most certainly again hits that target. But don’t for a minute think this album is simply more of the same. TRADarrr is a band that bubbles over with ideas and, having had a stable line up for most of the last three years, they’ve been able to use that time most productively, bringing many of their latest ideas to splendid fruition on this album. Each song has an “owner”, the band member who proposed it for inclusion, they may or may not take lead vocal but will have had a significant input to the arrangement. The band are planning to make details of how this process unfolded available for download on their web pages. I’ve seen an almost complete draft and these notes make fascinating reading and a perfect accompaniment to the music.
The only change to the line-up since the last album has been the arrival of Brendan O’Neill who took over on bass from Tim Harries, keeping the band to a core group of seven. Another name does, however, appear on the credits, Mike Stevens, brother of drummer, brass player and producer Mark Stevens. Mike appears on two tracks playing guitar on one and baritone sax on the other, but he also shared mixing duties with Mark, and this was a significant contribution. Mike’s name may be familiar if your musical interests stray from folk into rock, pop and prog. He tours with both Jeff Lynne’s ELO and 10cc and has been and continues to be musical director for a plethora of rock and pop acts including Annie Lennox and Take That. If those associations raise a few eyebrows in the folk world then, the TRADarrr view would be, “so be it”, his involvement with Strange News helped ensure they produced the rich and varied soundscapes some of their arrangements demanded. There is, also, one guest, Simon Care adds melodeon to the final track, Staunton Whale.
The opening notes of the first track, The Rose of Allendale, are all that’s needed to make you sit up and take notice. TRADarrr have found themselves a horn section, these opening notes could be the start of a Memphis soul number. But then the more familiar sounds of PJ Wright’s electric guitar come to the fore and this brief solo leads to Marion Fleetwood’s exquisite vocal with another short burst from the brass providing a link. The brass “section”, consisting of Mark Stevens on trumpet and PJ on tenor sax, returns with similarly brief phrases to herald the start of each verse. There’s undeniably a surprise element to these contributions and, yes, a pleasant surprise, but it’s other elements of the song that help ensure it is one of the standout tracks of the album. First among these is Marion’s vocal. She has many voices; this is her storytelling voice. The song is taken at a fair lick, driven along by an insistent drumbeat, but even at this pace, Marion’s phrasing ensures the delivery of the simple love story is clear and expressive. Behind the voice, the electric guitar is one component of an arrangement involving all the remaining band members, a backing that’s beautifully supportive, never intrusive. However, when Guy Fletcher on violin and PJ’s guitar come together for an instrumental break they demand attention, producing a magical thirty-odd seconds. They play alternate sections blending them together so seamlessly that, on first listening, it took a note or two before I could be sure which instrument was playing. If you’re familiar with previous recordings of The Rose of Allendale, you may be surprised by the pace of this version. But this is a new tune Marion’s written, fitted to the original lyrics and it works exceptionally well. It’s quite a dramatic change, but such things are a commonplace on this highly imaginative album.
Right from its beginnings, TRADarrr has had more than its fair share of first-class vocalists, yet on their previous albums they still made space for at least one set of tunes. Not so with Strange News, it is songs all the way and the vocal lead is spread amongst almost all the band, only Brendan has yet to take the plunge. As with the previous albums, Gregg Cave and Marion take the lion’s share, leading on seven of the eleven tracks. And while Marion may only claim lead on two of them, she makes up for it by duetting on a couple of tracks and providing harmonies on several others. When Marion sings harmony we’ve come to expect spine-tingling moments and, on Strange News, there are plenty.
The other female voice in TRADarrr, Gemma Shirley’s, is every bit as impressive and she takes centre stage for a version of The Blacksmith arranged by her around another freshly written melody. For the first two verses, Gemma’s solo voice and acoustic and electric guitar from PJ create a light, airy mood that Gemma describes as “a plaintive lament”. But the mood darkens as the blacksmith’s deceit is revealed. The backing swells with far more prominent guitar, bass and drums soon joined by synthesizer, trumpet and tenor sax. This iteration of TRADarrr showing they can create a truly big band sound. When the vocal returns it’s positively choral with Gemma’s voice multi-tracked for harmonies and with support from Guy and Marion.
Lovers’ Lament brings Marion and Gemma’s voices together in a song that is often known by the first line of the lyrics, I’ll weave my love a garland. Mark Stevens has written a new melody, reflected by the different title, that brings out the best from the two voices with Marion taking lead and Gemma harmonising. The song begins with the haunting sound of Mark’s flugelhorn over Gemma’s keyboards. As Marion’s singing takes over, a contrasting sequence picked on electric guitar accompanies her. Marion’s violin joins the keyboards and flugelhorn to link the verses and that’s it. Probably the most frugal arrangement on the album but most certainly a case of less is more, unforgettable.
The multi-talented Mark Stevens has always been the Swiss Army knife of TRADarrr, drums, brass, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, all topped off with his duties as producer. But, with a bit of elbowing from the rest of the band, he’s now taken a lead vocal, Cold Blows the Wind. Having written a new tune for the song, he initially recorded the vocal as a guide track but his low-register, slightly gravelly voice so suited the rôle of grieving lover his bandmates persuaded him to keep himself in the final mix. He’s joined by Marion singing the part of the dead and buried lover and the interleaving of the two contrasting voices superbly enhances the story’s impact. The arrangement is initially subdued, chords from Gemma on keyboards and Gregg’s acoustic guitar but builds to become richly textured. Mark describes it as orchestral, a nod to Marion’s one-woman string section of violin, viola and cello augmented here by Guy’s violin.
Guy takes the lead on Mary of the Silvery Tide, another tale of true love without a happy ending, thwarted in this case by a murderous death. Another full arrangement including Fender Rhodes electric piano, trumpet, tenor sax and Marion’s string section but what sets it apart is the time signature. In his notes, Guy admits to a liking of irregular time signatures and tells us the tune he’s created here is in 5/4, with occasional bars in 6/4. Go figure.
You might think Gregg would be kept busy enough, taking lead vocal on five songs. But he also pops up on most other tracks with backing vocals, acoustic or electric guitar and, in the case of The Blacksmith, congas. His lead vocals are all well worth writing about but I’ll pick out The Mare and the Foal. Lyrics that are a blend of nonsense (bible reading talking horses) and barbed criticism of various tradespeople in a similar vein to Rigs of the Time. Gregg has added a chorus and highly topical last verse that puts politicians firmly onto the list of targets. The song opens with Gregg’s voice backed by his acoustic guitar but builds with more voices joining and the very welcome inclusion of PJ, adding electric, slide and pedal steel guitar.
TRADarrr’s previous two albums, along with the band’s exhilarating and memorable live performances, have already ensured they have a loyal and growing following. A following that has been eagerly awaiting this third offering; they will not be disappointed. If you’ve not yet sampled TRADarrr, take a deep breath and plunge into their melting pot of genres and influences, all rooted in a profound love of traditional music. The band are mining a rich seam of traditional songs in their search for material, but it is the flair and imagination going into the arrangements that set them apart. It’s one thing to have the inspiration but it takes a group of musicians with the exceptional skill set found in TRADarrr to master this impressive array of instruments and bring their inspirations to fruition.