Ben Walker and Kirsty Merryn – Life and the Land EP
Folkroom Records – 3 September 2021
Every once in a while, whether by alchemy or just natural chemistry, no matter how talented the individuals may be as solo artists in their own right when given the opportunity to work with others, the resultant collaboration can often appear greater than the sum of its individual parts. Such is the case with Life and the Land, the magnificent debut EP from Ben Walker & Kirsty Merryn.
A former BBC Folk Award winner, Ben has a wealth of experience, having been involved, either as producer or performer, with more than 70 albums. His acoustic guitar playing is acknowledged as world-class, whilst his 2019 release Echo was described as “exceptional” here at Folk Radio UK.
In 2017 Kirsty launched her debut album, She & I, whilst appearing as the special guest of Show of Hands with Miranda Sykes on their UK Cathedrals tour, one show of which, perhaps unbelievably, I saw at the small, decidedly non-cathedral St Batholomew’s Parish Church in the village of Otford, full rig, full crew! Her follow-up album, Our Bright Night, garnered great critical acclaim, with Mike Davies here at Folk Radio welcoming her “haunting… emotional and musical depth… musical craftsmanship and her articulacy of the heart.”
The gestation period for Life and the Land is a long one. In 2019, over a post-gig beer, the two old friends chewed the cud over a shared interest, traditional songs that celebrate our connection with the earth. The project was thus born; conceived as a joyful exploration, the planned show was to both feature songs which celebrated harvest time and the contentment found at the end of a hard day’s graft. Still, it was also to be reflective, thinking about our relationship with the land and the cycles of nature today. Inevitably, the pandemic situation and lockdown played havoc with the plans, and whilst 2020 saw the release of a first single, Westlin Winds, giving an appetising amuse-bouche of what was in store, it is only now, a year to the day on from its original scheduled release, that the EP will finally be released, on Friday 3rd September 2021.
One of the duo’s shared passions is bringing traditional music up to date, and whilst some traditionalists might baulk at this, it is clear that reverence and respect for tradition permeate all five tracks on the release, as the listener is taken through the year’s inevitable cycle of death and rebirth, as the countryside denizens, featuring the birds of the field, the ploughboys, the scarecrows and the shepherdesses, regale us with their stories.
Opening with John Barleycorn, the well-known adaptation of the murder ballad tradition in which the spurned and murdered lover is replaced by the mythical figure of John Barleycorn who is brutally murdered and reborn as beer, the version presented here sees the melody being played at a rip-roaring tempo and kicks the recording off with great energy.
There is a definite blues feel to the pairs’ arrangement of Jolly Ploughboy, with cultured slide guitar working harmoniously with delicate piano. Eschewing the chorus found in other versions, the song tells the story of a young man bored with the repetitive tedium and hard work involved in working the land with the plough, who dreams of what he sees as the glamour of enlisting in the army and returning victorious, with riches and fame to marry Molly, his love. This arrangement is simply breathtaking.
A pastoral vision of agricultural life in Albion during Victorian times is given, in contrast to the previous song, in the traditional ballad New Mown Hay. The rendition presented appears to be an arrangement of a village version of an incident that occurred in the Cecil family. The sweet and gentle tale of yellow cowslips, gambolling lambs, and damsels sitting virtuously on ‘the blushing field’ paints a somewhat unreal, romanticised view of the reality of the lives of drudgery and toil encountered by those involved in agricultural labour at the time. The arrangement throughout the song superbly reflects this prosaic world, with the instrumental break between the third and fourth verses being another object lesson in marrying stringed instruments with piano.
The previously mentioned Westlin’ Winds, based on a Robert Burns poem written in 1775 and made famous by Dick Gaughan, is beautifully delivered here, with both artists being truly at the top of their game. Being both a celebration of the birdlife of Scotland, with references to, for example, moorcock, partridge, heron, plover, woodcock, pigeon and linnet, together with a distaste for the gentleman’s pursuit of hunting,
“The sportsman’s joy, the murd’ring cry, The flutt’ring, gory pinion!”; Ben and Kirsty have updated the latter part of the poem to “recognise the disconnect that many of us have now between nature and our comfortable day to day lives, and of our boundless consumerism of nature which has put it at such great peril.” The official video of this gorgeous song was premiered on Folk Radio UK and can be seen again below.
Rounding off this all-too-brief EP is Scarecrow, a menacing and foreboding tale written by Lal & Mike Waterson, a version of which I hazily recall being performed by Tony Capstick back in the mid-70s when I ran a College Folk Club. Delivered with supreme confidence here, with its reference, once again, to the sacrifices made to harvest the corn, we are very neatly and, appropriately given the cyclical theme, brought full circle back to the start of the season.
One of the many impressions taken from listening to this EP is the sheer symbiosis that exists, musically, between the two artists. Kirsty’s voice is absolutely stunning throughout and complements perfectly Ben’s undoubted musical expertise and talent, which results in a tremendously enjoyable listening experience.
In a strange, even perverse, way, the enforced delay of the project might prove to be a benefit. As Ben highlights, “if anything, this record feels even more relevant now, after a winter that feels like it’s gone on too long. These songs remind us that all things pass, green things grow, the sun rises and sets and the seasons change.”
With Life and the Land, Ben Walker and Kirsty Merryn have delivered a masterclass in how to successfully place old jewels in new settings. They have indeed set the bar high for anyone else who, in the future, wishes to breathe new life into old masters. My only niggle is that the release is an EP and not a full album.
With sharing the songs live, for all to sing, being as important to them as the recording, Ben and Kirsty will be embarking on a joint headline tour from Autumn 2021 through to Spring 2022, with tickets available now. Details here or here.
Pre-Order via Bandcamp: https://folkroomrecords.bandcamp.com/album/life-and-the-land