Oysterband – Read the Sky
Running Man – 4 March 2022
So much time has passed since the last full studio Oysterband album, 2014’s Diamonds On The Water, that fans may have wondered were the band going to re-appear in anything like the rolling, tumbling, full force folk outfit we have loved in the past. There had been 40th anniversary touring, incredible work with June Tabor and certainly no actual mention of an ending, but sometimes things do just slowly fade, don’t they? Well, I am delighted to report that this has not been the case with the Oysterband, but surely no one could have predicted them returning with a song collection quite like ‘Read The Sky’? A real case of a band scooping up with open arms every grain of musical inspiration, flare and focus slow-cooked over the previous decades and serving up a platter that is just so vital and tasty. This is what you get when a band continue to make music for the best reasons, for the sheer delight they get from playing together and knowing they have something they want to say, then taking their time to ensure they put out a top-quality album worthy of the name.
The pandemic inevitably held up recording, but maybe that added time contributed to the supremely fine-tuned LP release I hold in my hand today? This is everything I want from a great folk record; in fact, I would go as far as to say it is this kind of release that got me into folk music in the first place. Oysterband are engaged here, ‘Read The Sky’ belongs firmly in the year 2022. Folk, for me, is at its best when singing the lives of regular working people and reflecting the concerns and issues we all have bubbling away in our heads and hearts. When it wraps up these narratives in a life-affirming and tub-thumping musical dressing, urging the people to sing-out too, then this music truly occupies the space in the culture where it belongs. I do not like folk being too marginalised; I want it to grab people’s attention, offer the audience something they can really get their teeth into and take hold of. I would love these songs to break and enter into the world of everyday people, delivering a rootsy melodic thrill as they absorb words articulating their lives whilst still telling a good story or two. With this release, the Oysterband can do all of that and more; yes, they have always had a political edge to their music, but this one takes things beyond that, straight to the heartland of where the battleground is for all of us today.
That fight, beyond doubt, is the climate emergency, and while I should state that there is so much more on this album than that topic alone, the health of the planet looms large. The cover image itself tells a story, the aged empty boat run aground, is the sun setting or is it the dawn of a new day, and what exactly can those stars know that we do not? It is a striking picture that is both beautiful and apocalyptic; as a representation of the music contained within, it could not be more appropriate. Then, peppered throughout the songs (all bar one Oysterband originals) are lyrics that seem to jump out and anchor your thoughts to the main point of concern. For example, in ‘Wonders Are Passing’, the line “treasures of Earth are slipping through our fingers” stands tall as a statement that is, simply and fundamentally, true. There is the purity of this blue planet’s water that flows through the songs ‘Hungry For That Water,’ where Alan Prosser introduces an effectively vulnerable texture with a turn on lead vocal duties, then later on ‘Streams Of Innocence.’
That penultimate tune brings with it one of many sonic gear changes applied all the way through the record. Yes, this is a satisfyingly varied selection of songs, everything has its own personal vibe, but ‘Streams Of Innocence’ in particular has a hypnotically mantra-like pulse. There is something skilful in the Al Scott production that almost dips the listener deep under the flowing water, a clever bit of studio technique and an example of the diligence at work here. The lyric is actually a lot heavier in subject matter, referring to lives cut short as the stream changes colour below the mill, a story whose disturbingly dark undercurrent invites deeper analysis.
‘Read The Sky’ is worthy of your attention too because it holds up with all ten songs; there is no weak link found here. And while the songs do indeed tell many different stories, there are solid threads that hold it all together. The passing of time felt within the life lessons of pacifism and compassion movingly spoken to the next generation in ‘My Son.’ Travel and movement, both to and from the people and places where we belong, that over time reveal our true homes, these themes are central to album opener ‘Born Under The Same Sun’ (a fiddle slashing, folk-rock pot-boiler, make no mistake). The celebratory nostalgia on ‘Corner Of The Room’ is thinking along similar lines, recalling and catching up with the old faces who once danced and sang at Mally’s Bar. ‘Roll Away’ takes us further down the road before considering, “maybe I’ll return to this island someday.” And a quick credit for the songwriter of that tune, Davy Knowles, for despite being the only number here written by someone else, it sits so well with the other tracks that the selection is a little masterstroke of song curation.
Perhaps the most significant indicator of all that this is a great album is the fact that Oysterband close with ‘The Time Is Now.’ Not many bands would be able to stick a song so urgent, so immediate and with so much punch as the last track. Indeed, I can state with certainty that most bands would have to put something this good at the front end of a record to entice the listeners to keep going. Leaving it as the final song would normally run the risk of people not even getting that far in, but there is absolutely no danger of that on ‘Read The Sky.’ The preceding songs are all so enjoyable, thought-provoking and diverse that no one with correctly functioning ears is going to stop listening. That said, ‘The Time Is Now’ is a highlight and deserves to be heard as one of the most direct callouts to everyone to understand the immediacy of the climate emergency. I do hope this song can cut through; just reach people. It is oh so potent, and the message is one the human race cannot afford to ignore. Just as they have always done in their illustrious back pages, so the Oysterband continue today to be the band willing to stand up and call the tune, “we know what the time is, the time is now.”
Read the Sky is released on 4th March 2022.
Pre-Order now via Proper Music and all good record stores.
Currently on tour in Denmark, the Oysterband are on tour in the UK from April. Tour dates and tickets here: http://www.oysterband.co.uk/tour-dates/