Best known for his loosely conceptual 1972 psychedelic folk classic Dreaming with Alice, Normandy-based singer-songwriter Mark Fry has announced a new album. Produced by David Sheppard (Snow Palms, Ellis Island Sound), ‘Not on the Radar‘ will be released on 16th May via Second Language, the same label through which he released his 2014 album South Wind, Clear Sky. Thomas Blake concludes in his review of South Wind: These days, Fry is perhaps as well-known for his painting as for his musical output, but the two forms shouldn’t necessarily be considered separately. On South Wind, Clear Sky, he has created a set of songs that examine innocence, loneliness, tranquillity and adventure with a painter’s eye for detail and an enviable compositional skill.
The new album’s title speaks to Fry’s rural isolation and existential disconnection from modern life’s entrapments. “When I’m working, I need a sense of solitude in order to find that space towards the edge where there’s a point of connection between now and then,” explains Mark. “That’s where my songs and paintings are hiding. Some songs come so fast that I’m not even present, I don’t remember being there. Others I have to chip away at. I often write music very late at night or early in the morning – if I’m lucky I can catch myself unawares then. I always wanted to make an album like this, recording live with everyone playing together in the same room. It’s a spontaneous creative experience, and the intensity of it is quite different from what happens when you lay down tracks separately.”
Listen to the title track below. You have to hand it to Mark; irrespective of his 71 years, he sounds pretty exceptional, something also highlighted in the press, which describes his vocals as seemingly buffed to a new radiance, his delivery taking on hitherto unheard shades of both delicacy and gravity and, here and there, a new-found urbane laconicism.
You can also hear the aching nocturne ‘Daybreak’…aptly described as timeless, personal and genuinely moving songwriting given wing by some beautifully restrained, simpatico ensemble playing.
According to the press, the album came about following a rare concert Mark staged in the Normandy village of Varengeville-sur-Mer in March of 2024. The sold-out show, featuring the singer and his four-piece band, would prove to be a tour de force, offering a timely audit of the 71-year-old Fry’s still-evolving songwriting canon. Indeed, several of the new songs aired at the show were the product of an extended 2023 and early 2024 creative roll, and, harnessing the momentum, Fry was eager to record them for what promised to be a bold new album. Having rehearsed for the gallery concert with his band – guitarist Iain Ross (Barry Adamson, Laika), double bassist John Parker (Nizlopi), keyboardist / vocalist Angèle David-Guillou (Piano Magic, Klima) and percussionist David Sheppard (Snow Palms, Ellis Island Sound) – in his painting studio deep in the Norman countryside, it seemed logical to use the same creative space to cut a new longplayer, with a nod to illustrious forebears such as The Band’s ‘Music from Big Pink’ or Cowboy Junkies’ ‘Trinity Sessions’.
To coincide with the release, Fry will make a rare live appearance at London’s Stone Nest on the same day (16th May – tickets available HERE) – plus a solo set from Daisy Rickman.
Pre-Order Not On The Radar via Bandcamp: https://markfry.bandcamp.com/album/not-on-the-radar
Heron Island Productions have also unveiled a teaser to their forthcoming full-length documentary about the singer-songwriter and painter entitled ‘Where The Water Meets The Land’. Watch it here.