Short Reviews [Nightsong - 2020 - "The Peasants' Revolt"]

Recorded remotely during lockdown, this is the debut album from Ali Karim (electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboards), John Reed (vocals, backing vocals, cittern, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards) and Jo Beth Young (vocals, acoustic, electric and bow guitar, keyboards, recorder, percussion). Here we have a collection of 16 songs, lasting some 54 minutes, telling a story of people from medieval times. If this were a solo project from John then I am sure we would be discussing a “straightforward” folk album, but with Ali and Jo Beth involved we instead having something which is now progressive folk, and all the better for it. John’s voice is perfectly suited for this storytelling, as there are times when he is almost speaking as opposed to singing, and one can imagine him being a huge fan of Ashely Hutchings as he has certainly been inspired by him. The three musicians are all multi-instrumentalists, and this has allowed them to develop multiple layers of arrangements and support for the main vocals, and one of the biggest elements of that are the ethereal vocals of Jo Beth. I have been a huge fan of her music for some years, and ‘An Abandoned Orchid House’ (by Talitha Rise) should be in every music lover’s collection. Take “St. Mary Magdalen” as an example, which commences with keyboards, bass, and Jo turning herself into a choir weaving webs of gossamer and beauty. John becomes the focal point when he commences singing, yet this is turned into something very special as the song progresses and Jo Beth starts to throw her voice around, although never taking over from John but instead taking the sonic experience to a different level. This is an album which is all about atmosphere and demands to be played late at night when the listener can give it full attention. This Is not something to be played in the background when doing something else, but instead is to be played on headphones with the light out so that one can be drawn into the majesty and beauty. John’s simple storytelling is taken into new heights by the accompaniments, and the way all three combined remotely to provide the layers is nothing short of remarkable as it sounds as if they were all in the studio discussing the next idea, as opposed to all working at home. They use different sounds and instruments to create textures, with Jo Beth taking lead vocals on only a few numbers, and there is a huge variety of sounds on offer. Let us hope there is going to be another Nightsong album soon, as this is a delight from beginning to end.