Short Reviews [The Gardening Club - 2024 - "Another Country"]

I often think the music business is a cruel place, and how it discards those who should be feted and reveres those who are not creative at all. That is the case with Martin Springett, whose debut album, 'The Gardening Club' in 1983 never received anything like the acclaim it should have done at the time, and it wasn't until the reissue in 2017 that many people (including me) became aware that Martin had a musical interest alongside his artistic one, with just two albums more since the first one. The reviews he achieved in 2017 lit a fire under Martin, and this is the sixth album since then. He has also developed two different sets of musicians to work with, one on the east coast of Canada and one on the west, and this album again finds Martin working with both on different songs. The vast majority of those involved have appeared on other albums with him, but a special mention should be made of new member Danie Friesen who provides both "normal" vocals and classical elements, which adds additional finesse and polish to the overall. Many of those involved, including Martin, provide more instrumentation than they are credited with at the end of the booklet, but fuller details can be found against each song as well as the lyrics and of course, Martin's wonderful artwork. While Martin provides vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, he is joined by Drew Birston (fretless and acoustic bass), Peter Dowse (bass), Wayne Kozak (saxophone), Kevin Laliberte (electric guitar), Chandy Leon (drums) and Norm MacPherson (electric guitars). I have often likened Martin as being a combination of Roy Harper and Camel, and to my mind that is still very true indeed, yet here he has broadened the palette, with more orchestration in places (care of Norm) and the wonderful vocals of Danie. I still find it difficult to understand why Martin was not recognised as a true talent 40 years ago, and one can only wonder what would have happened to his career if that had taken place, as while his output has been prodigious in recent years, there has been no lack whatsoever of quality control. Here he has even allowed himself to produce one of his longest songs to date, yet it never meanders and keeps the listener totally invested throughout and highly engaged. It never seems as if this is an album which in many ways could be considered as being by a project as opposed to a band given the way the songs are performed by different musicians with the only common factor being Martin himself, as there is a focus and vision which are dominant throughout. Martin knows exactly what he wants to achieve and uses others to assist in fleshing out those ideas and polishing the final product. Martin and I have been friends for some time now, and of course he has provided the artwork to all my books, so it is quite possible that readers will think I am biased towards him. However, the reason he first contacted me was due to the review I wrote of his debut as I fell in love with his music the very first time I heard it and each album just reinforces my view that his music is significant as there is a beauty within it which lifts me up each time I play one of his releases. There is something very special indeed about this album, which is one of his best to date, and let there be many more.