Nu Folk super group anyone?
It may seem an odd concept, but that’s what The Accidental are under the bonnet. Comprising of Stephen Cracknell, founder of Trunk Records, San Genders from Tunng, Hannah Caughlin of The Bicycle Thieves and singer / songwriter Laim Bailey, together they produce a gorgeous concoction of gentle experimental folk.
If you are after coruscating guitar attacks or thumping beats you’ve come to the wrong place, however if it’s beautifully sung harmonies and counterpoints painted on to a background of sparse but lovely instrumentation you’re wanting then these are your people.
‘There Were Wolves’ is the sound of the English countryside on a summer’s day, replete with birdsong backing, but it’s a modern England and there’s not a Morris Dancer in sight.
‘Knock Knock’ is a gentle introduction and the rest of the album seldom raises itself above the soporific tempo set here. ‘Wolves’ and ‘ I Can Hear You Voice’ showcase what the band are all about, complex vocal strands weave in and out with lyrics that border on the surreal evoking imagery of woodland dells and burbling streams.
If there’s one complaint I’d have about the record is its slight lack of variety. It moseys along in a pleasant enough way, but lacks the real imagination of a Tunng record. Although towards the end the instrumental ‘The Killing Floor’ promises that this band may go to different places in the future.
If it ever stops raining this summer, put this album on your iPod, go sit in a field and listen to it and I defy you to tell me your life is not a richer place for the experience.
Top Tracks: ‘I Can Hear Your Voice’, ‘The Killing Floor’.
Released 02/06/08 on Full Time Hobby Records
