The release of You, Golden, the first duo record from Fleadh Cheoil na Breataine prize-winning violinist Owen Spafford and young maestro guitarist Louis Campbell, was always one to look forward to, and the finished article is as special as the potential would suggest. The quality on display across the nine tracks of You, Golden is frightening and fully belies the pair’s ludicrous average age of twenty-one. Among a wide variety of others, they mention The Gloaming and Lau as influences in the press release, and these are present from the off, with the patient intro to Adson’s using sparsely played guitar chords to frame a beautifully dreamy violin melody that shifts and ebbs and flows, allowing Louis to get creative along the fretboard. At over eight minutes, the piece is unhurried and diverse in its structure, moving through moods and tempos. It’s a lovely tune and immediately brings to mind other significant musical duos like Dipper Malkin and Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill.
Songs like Nineties allow Louis to further demonstrate his guitar playing chops and indulge his fondness of players like Nic Jones, with a strong melodic opening that sits back part way through to allow Owen in with a lovely fiddle line before the pair spa and intertwine towards the end.
Elsewhere, the gorgeously ethereal two-minute Ditty II sees the pair more restrained and melancholy; here, Louis’s notes are clipped, and Owen’s bowing is wonderfully hushed, creating a quiet miniature that is stunning in its modesty. The same can be said for Ditty I, another gem that manages to fit delicate and memorable music into just over a minute, this time led by a gently picked guitar part that Owen subtly adorns with plucked violin strings. Even better is Lullabies, a seamless medley of tunes ending the album, which spans just shy of eight minutes. Like on Adson’s, the track time allows the pair to play unhurried and beautiful music with complete confidence and startling prowess.
Being a predominantly instrumental album, vocals, when they appear, are surprising, even when the song title is Hares on the Mountain. For this classic piece, one that has seen hundreds of interpretations, the duo choose an uneasy repetitive violin to underpin the song, with the quavering vocal troubled and emotional. The pair’s broad range of musical influences, from traditional folk artists to Bill Frisell and Big Thief, becomes most apparent here, with theirs anxious and almost angry in places. A far cry from versions like Chris Wood and Andy Cutting’s particularly sunny and innocently romantic take, Owen and Louis’s illustrates the depth of the song and also the musical nous they possess that allows them to rethink such an important part of the folk canon.
Recorded in just two days, with no studio tools to hand, the music throughout You, Golden is fresh, pure and energised but also varied in its nature, as the bold take on Hares on the Mountain suggests, creating a diverse sound using just the two instruments and very occasional voice. This level of confidence is impressive enough, but more remarkable here, considering the age of the two players and the fact that this is their first outing as a duo. You, Golden is a splendid effort; uplifting, probing and exciting, as well as wise and patient; it is an album to return to and savour. Excellent stuff.
You, Golden is released today (4 November). Order via Bandcamp: https://spaffordcampbell.bandcamp.com/album/you-golden
‘You, Golden’ Tour Dates
Bristol, Wardrobe Theatre – 29/11/22
London, Aces and Eights – 06/12/22
Bath, Christ Church – 07/12/22
Newcastle, Cobalt Studios – 08/12/22
Guildford, The Boileroom *with Andy Cutting – 09/12/22
Leeds, Mill Hill – 10/12/22
Manchester, Gullivers – 13/12/22
More details here: https://www.spaffordcampbell.com/