As evidenced on their new album ‘The Space Between‘, the Bonfire Radicals are a proper folk melting pot, a hot, simmering six-piece whose banging and crashing rollercoaster of sound is alive with possibility and thrills. Theirs is a mainly instrumental fusion that flies through traditional reels blown into clarinets and recorders, grounds with intent onto violins and violas and pounds into our heads with a thunderous bass and drum backdrop; it is wholly unpredictable and astonishingly eclectic in the excursions it takes us on. They have a globalist outlook, no local music for local people to be found here; everything from Bulgarian flavoured pipe-organ to British Isles tradition and South African township vibes are just a sample of the many delights on offer. It is ironic that the band photo on this album’s centre spread depicts the Bonfire Radicals looking fenced in; this lot could punch their way out of any pigeonhole.
The band say, “born in the space between, the album grew limbs, a heart and a life of its own”, which is how it sounds, a record not constructed out of clock-watching necessity but rather one where the ideas and progressions unfold naturally, with spirit. They sound like they are having fun playing this music, and that translates with energy pumping out of every groove. That said, for all the dizzying mayhem of the free-flowing instrumentation, there is an emotional centrepiece with the traditional tale ‘Mary Ashford,’ sung (the only lead vocal of the album) by Michelle Holloway to a melody by Jon Wilks. This murder ballad from Birmingham tells a hard-hitting story about two women; dating from around 1817, the song drops some heavy emotional weight as a powerful contrast to the foot-tapping, hip-shaking revelry that surrounds it.
And what superb surroundings they are, proceedings fly from the word go with a brace of steaming reels, ‘Brenda Stubbert’s Reel’ and ‘The Bonfire.’ One thing that stood out with these when returning for repeated listens is that underneath those frenetic wind and string melodies, there are some impossibly intricate and inventive bass and drum patterns occurring; there really is some buried treasure in this music when you dig down.
Those aforementioned African flavours surface on ‘Café de Flore,’ actually a set of two French traditional pieces, enhanced by some juicy electric guitar play from Emma Reading that was almost Ray Phiri-like in its light-fingered charm. ‘Satsuma Moon’ is a real quirky, jerky original that you could easily imagine popping up as a children’s television theme tune in the seventies. Another original, ‘The Man From Suburbia,’ begins as a head-spinning accordion showpiece before exploding with electricity about halfway through, ending up an entirely different beast. A similarly dramatic sonic shift occurs amidst the pair of traditional tunes, ‘Sha Sha Di Shviger Kumt’ and ‘Freilacher Nashele.’
Album closer, ‘Coffee Countdown – Piped and Unplugged,’ is a self-explanatory fresh bare-bones arrangement of a favourite tune played by the full band on their debut album; it is appropriately grand, fun, gothic and unique. If the Bonfire Radicals are indeed running on caffeine, then it is a stimulant that befits their restless energy. It is so easy to picture them playing this material out and absolutely tearing up a festival tent on a Saturday night. ‘The Space Between’ is the sound of a band that are cooking on heat right now; anyone who comes into their orbit is going to be hard pushed not to be swept up by this blazing folk comet; the Bonfire Radicals are a band for the here and now who could give us all a much needed, welcome lift.
The Space Between is Out Now. Order via Bandcamp
Upcoming Tour Dates
Tuesday, October 18 – Album Launch – special double header with The Drystones
Hare and Hounds, Kings Heath, Kings Heath, Birmingham *
Tuesday, November 1 – Crofters Rights, Bristol *
Friday, November 4 – Shakespeares, Sheffield *
Sunday, November 6 – Interactive Family Show @ Warwick Arts Centre
Wednesday, November 9 – The Musician, Leicester
Bonfire Radicals – The Betsy Trotswood, London
Saturday, November 12 Folk on the Meadows, THE CLUB HOUSE MOVO Meadows The Triangle, Belper, Derbyshire
Monday, November 14 – The Prince Albert, Stroud
Friday, November 25 – West Kirby Arts Centre
*Double Header with The Drystones
Tickets and more details: https://www.bonfireradicals.com/gigs