Nick Burbridge is something of a Jack-of-all-trades. For more than a quarter of a century he has been active as a writer. He has written poetry, novels, short stories, plays and songs. He has also found time to co-found folk rockers McDermott’s Two Hours, which has recorded a number of albums, many of them together with The Levellers, and written plays for Tommy McDermott’s Theatre. For this acoustic album he has teamed up with Tim Cotterell, multi-instrumentalist, producer and a member of McDermott’s Two Hours.
As expected from a writer like Burbridge the lyrics are central to the album. Burbridge paints images and gives plenty of room for interpretations. The lyrics are printed on the sleeve, but no other information about the songs, so everything is open to the listener’s imagination. Sometimes, like in “The Monkey”, the story line is pretty clear, at other times, like “Snake in the Grass”, the song seems to be written with someone special in mind, and of course there are songs with political content, like “Welfare” and “After the Deluge”.
Musically you can tell that Burbridge as a song writer is firmly rooted in the British folk song writing tradition. But it is Cotterell’s additions that shine. A fine musician, mastering both keyboards and a variety of stringed instruments, he supplies intros and interludes that lift the songs. The many instruments he uses also adds to give each song its own character, and like in the opening “Last Train Home” excitement. New instruments pop up in every interlude. Sometimes we also get treated to a short jig or reel instead of solos.
Burbridge himself is a guitarist of distinction, fully qualified to choose the right guitar style for each song. It may be soft finger picking or just supplying a rhythm, but he is always spot on.
In all it is a fine achievement, good songs, good musicianship and good production. But you need to give it time. It is not a record to use a background sound for other activities, you have to sit down and concentrate to fully appreciate it, and to get into Burbridge’s lyrics takes a number of listenings. If you are prepared to set of this time you will be rewarded, if not choose something else to listen to.
(Burbridge & Cotterell, 2012)
