Around this time last year, Spitzer Space Telescope, the London-via-Michigan songwriter Dan MacDonald, released his single Veritas, fresh off the Broadside Hacks Roster Tour. This year, he’s getting in early with Bound For Calais-O, which drops a day ahead of this year’s Roster Tour kick-off (details below), which begins in Lewes tomorrow, where he performs alongside the Goblin Band, whose debut album, A Loaf of Wax, Thomas Blake described as stirring and often spectacular.
If you want stirring and spectacular, MacDonald delivers, as he ably demonstrates on Bound For Calais-O, once again channelling The Clancy Brothers’ gorgeous vibe, minus the Aran sweater, to the modern world. While this may sound nostalgic, the zeal with which this ballad is delivered, with added clout from Mareva Lindo, makes it an ideal ballad for these times, a great communal pick-up for those feeling the weight of a growing lack of empathy, hate propaganda, and inflammatory rhetoric from right-wing populists.
The upcoming tour is a must-see if you want to experience the magic of the Broadside Hacks roster.
Speaking more about the track, Dan explains: “Sea shanties have always been a well of inspiration that I come back to over and over again. This song is another love letter to that tradition, specifically the jolly “foc’sle” variety of sea shanties. It features Mareva Lindo singing harmonies.”
Alongside Spitzer Space Telescope and Goblin Band, the Broadside Hacks Roster Tour also includes Milkweed (“the most exciting band in folk music”), Brown Wimpenny (“a folk music that resounds with originality and freshness”), Myer U Clark (“recalls the late-’60s Canterbury scene across a run of sun-dazzled songs — a debut of clear vision and singular songwriting”) and Sam Grassie (“unshowy, deft and deeply communal”).
Broadside Hacks Roster Tour dates:
22 OCT // Lewes, Con Con Club (GB, SST)
24 OCT // London, ICA (BW, SG, SST, MUC)
29 OCT // Southampton, Heartbreakers (SG, SST)
31 OCT // London, Cecil Sharp House (Goblin Band Headline)
7 NOV // Carmarthen, CWRW (GB, SST)
11 NOV // Falmouth, Cornish Bank (SST, MUC)
16 NOV // Bristol, The Old England (GB, SST)
17 NOV // Oxford, Fusion Arts (GB, SST)
18 NOV // Cambridge, NCI (GB, SST, SG)
19 NOV // Norwich, The Puppet Theatre (GB, SST, SG)
22 NOV // Hebden Bridge, Trades Club (GB, SST, SG, MUC)
23 NOV // Manchester, Gulliver’s (SST, SG, MUC)
24 NOV // Glasgow, Glad Cafe (SG, SST)
26 NOV // London, EarTH Theatre (Milkweed headline)
28 NOV // Chester, St. Mary’s (BW, SG, MUC)
5 DEC // Manchester, New Century Locker (BW headline)
BW = Brown Wimpenny
SG = Sam Grassie
GB = Goblin Band
SST = Spitzer Space Telescope
MUC = Myer U Clark