Sam Kelly and the Lost Boys – The Wishing Tree
Pure Records – 27 August 2021
As Sam Kelly himself has said, four years has been a long time to wait for another album after the spectacular success of 2017’s Pretty Peggy. But, needless to say, given the pedigree of this band, The Wishing Tree has been well worth waiting for. My attention was instantly captured by the first track and then firmly held by the remaining eleven.
That first track, Bluebird, opens with a simple banjo riff from Jamie Francis, soon backed up by the rest of the band, and then Sam’svoice, in gentle mode, delivers the first line, A rare bird flew over Coniston Water blue. The words understandably grabbed me as, at the time, I was sat in a friend’s cottage just a few miles west of Coniston. But brush aside any thoughts of small birds swooping over the surface of the lake, this song is inspired by the boat Donald Campbell piloted to several world water speed records, ultimately dying in an attempt to set an even higher mark. The song, though, isn’t about tragedy; rather, it takes inspiration from the determination to try and try again, It’s better to fall than to never leave the ground. An uplifting song to open the album, with a banjo riff that stays with you for hours and in a good way.
There’s been just one change in the Lost Boys lineup since Pretty Peggy, no Ciaran Algar, but the remaining six members have generally added a few more instruments to their armoury. Sam contributes guitars, bouzouki, piano, bass and harmonium, plus his vocals. Jamie also provides vocals and plays guitars, banjo, octave mandolin and bass. Graham Coe is the third vocalist and adds guitar and bass to his signature instrument, the cello. Evan Carson brings in a variety of percussion along with his bodhrán. Archie Moss is on the button accordion and the final member, Toby Shaer, contributes flutes, whistles, fiddle and cittern. Added to this already impressive array of instruments, there are two guests, Laura Wilkie plays fiddle on Maria, and everyone’s go-to uilleann piper, Mike McGoldrick, plays on Tinker’s Poteen.
Sam, Jamie and Graham wrote the opening track that so impressed me, and they’ve also been at least partly responsible for the other original songs, as is the case with the following track, Tinker’s Poteen. It is the first of the traditional numbers on the album, a trad song with a distinctly original arrangement. Banjo and percussion dominate the backing until fills from the fiddle and the McGoldrick pipes make welcome appearances, finishing off the track by taking over the melody. Sam always points to his Irish grandfather to explain an early interest in folk music. This song is as plain a nod to that heritage as he could make, a tale of passing the secrets of illegal distillation down through the generations.
The following song, Guiding Light, could also be paying tribute to that grandfather. But it can also be taken as being in praise of anyone who has provided support and inspiration at critical times in life when self-doubt and a lack of direction threaten to tip over into despair and depression. Such a path could have been all too real for many of us over the last eighteen months, so Guiding Light is most surely a song for our times. The writing credits here include Toby Shaer, the reason being abundantly clear as his whistles provide both an introduction and a final reprise of the melody. As with many of the album’s songs, Guiding Light is an intriguing combination of instrumentation that sits comfortably amidst the very best of contemporary folk ensemble playing and lyrics that could equally well be matched with an orchestral or solo singer song writer setting.
The heart of the album is a sequence of four tracks that illustrates the care that has gone into preparing the album as a complete package, not simply a collection of songs. Chalk Line gently muses on the transient nature of our existence, closing with the stanza:
Do you ever get this feeling
We were never meant to stay?
We’re a chalk line on the coal face
We’ll gently slip away
This is immediately followed by the fast-paced, almost angry-sounding Nature’s Law, railing against the greedy takers of this world, the wolves. Jamie’s banjo again leads the charge in the arrangement. I’d never really thought of a finger-picked banjo as an angry instrument, but here the description fits it to a tee. Omens is less easy to categorise; the lyrics are somewhat opaque, but the moods it generates are an intriguing combination, beginning with the gentleness typical of Chalk Line then accelerating into darker thoughts with a closing line of You must dispel selfish thoughts. The fourth track in the sequence is the well known Irish lament Mo Ghile Mear. Sam takes the lament slowly with a backing that is primarily a harmonium drone. Any thoughts still buzzing around your head from Omens are gently calmed by the pace and, for non-Irish speakers, the Gaeilge lyrics.
As the album nears its end, there are still a few fresh elements to be introduced. See My Grave Is Kept Clean can be traced back to the 1920s when Blind Lemon Jefferson recorded it as a blues. For The Lost Boys version, the lyrics come at a sedate pace and with Sam’s voice on its gentle setting once more. There is, however, a nod to the song’s origins with an electric guitar solo that makes good use of the effects pedals. Having made the crossover to electric, the following track, Steal Fire, goes further with a rocky drum rhythm and guitar riff plus plenty of wailing electrics, all very much in keeping with the iconoclastic lyrics, Steal fire, burn the temple down.
The final track gives the album its title and returns to a sound more typical of the album as a whole. Banjo led once more; the lyrics evoke the singer’s “happy place”, guiding the listener back to a contented state following the hustle and bustle of the previous two tracks. It’s a journey that’s accompanied by an abundance of sweeping fiddle. The usual writing trio of Sam, Jamie and Graham are here joined by Gareth Lee, a collaborator with Sam during his Cornwall days, Gareth playing in the touring band for The Changing Room.
The changing moods of The Wishing Tree form a big part of its charm, alongside thought-provoking lyrics and musicianship that is second to none. Sam clearly remains the prime mover behind the band. Still, since their student days, his long professional relationship with Jamie Francis and Evan Carson seems to ensure there’s a like-minded core to bounce ideas around. To that, the compositional talents of Graham Coe have now been thoroughly assimilated, while the outstanding musicianship of Toby Shaer and Archie Moss just seems to get better and better. Sam Kelly and The Lost Boys have again demonstrated they are the complete package. Whether you look at the song writing, the development of the arrangements or the individual musical performances, you’d be hard pushed to find the merest chink in their armour. With The Wishing Tree, they demonstrate that to perfection.
The Wishing Tree is out today on Pure Records.
Sam Kelly and The Lost Boys Tour Dates
Between The Trees Festival, WALES
28th August 2021
Swanage Folk Festival, Dorset, ENG
11th September 2021
CAMBRIDGE Junction
Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys
6th November 2021
LONDON Nell’s
Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys
7th November 2021
MANCHESTER Night & Day
Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys
8th November 2021
NORWICH Arts Centre
Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys
9th November 2021
BRISTOL Thekla
Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys
10th November 2021
NOTTINGHAM Bodega
Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys
11th November 2021
PENZANCE Acorn Theatre
Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys
12th November 2021
HAILSHAM Pavilion
Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys
13th November 2021
Tickets here: http://www.samkelly.org/gigs.php
Order The Wishing Tree: https://purerecords.net/collections/sam-kelly/products/the-wishing-tree-cd-pre-order