Arcelia
Building on the Land
How Now Records
“This ain't rock n roll..”
David Bowie began on his song Diamond Dogs, neither is Building On The Land by Arcelia.
It’s not folk, country or easy-listening. Instead the highly-listenable mature vocal trio
of Gavin Alexander, Simon Foster, and Teresa Gallagher are trailblazing a new
genre which recognizes its fan base. It’s
for people who may be over 30, who horror of horrors, still wear jeans, and who aren’t ready for shapeless beige or
corduroy, just yet. They don’t need
their trainers to be adorned with symbols or stripes of a certain angle. It’s
music for adults with themes of family and life happenings.
Gavin Alexander on acoustic
guitar writes all the songs and I found the lyrics, almost poetic, which I’ll
come back to later, if you’ll allow.
All three members have great voices, and together with the deft jazz
–like hands of Perry White on piano and Martin Elliott on acoustic bass, the
sound is melodic and endearing. It is quite possibly an unconscious reflection
upon Kent – The Garden of England, with its pastoral landscape together with embers
from the Canterbury scene.
What is not mere speculation,
(Did the cover cast a spell?), is the
quality of this recording, made at Arcelia’s own studio in Kent , which is largely down to
Simon Foster, an experienced sound engineer, co-founder of How Now Productions
and present member of The Flying
Pickets.
Teresa Gallagher is also a
voice artist and her reading of Dickens’ Bleak
House was a Times Audio Book of The Year.
If that’s too high-brow, she’s also been heard in TV series such as
Thomas & Friends. She’s a true
all-rounder, having experience also in radio dramas.
Is this a perfect album? - Not
quite. Nine out of the twelve tracks
however, are exceptional. Workhouse was a commission (Gresssenhall Workhouse in Norfolk) and is outstanding –
“From 4am till very late, the men unpick the oakum, I scrub the laundry cloth
so white, 30 lashes if outspoken” Teresa softly sings. I was slightly disappointed at each end of
the album therefore, as each end didn’t reach the same heights as
the nine. I would have led with The
World or the title track, that would have been better indicators of what was to
follow. Alternatively, I would
have used Teresa’s experience to make a reading of Gavin’s lyrics.
NE
