Wanders round the English countryside
Even allowing for the fast pace of modern life, we all of us sometimes just look out of the window and watch the world go by. The reason, though, that MV reviews albums rather than makes them, is that we don’t have the skill to turn that observation into great songs.
Thank goodness, then, for artists like Martin Simpson who do it for us.
“Trails And Tribulations” is his 20th studio album in 40 years, and finds him in the mood for a little bit of everything. As he said himself, the record is made up of “a collection of songs about nature, about travels and about real life stories. There are traditional songs, poems and contemporary songs by great writers, and songs that I had to write because nobody else knew what I wanted to say.”
All of which is perfectly true, but still manages to do the record a disservice given that it is not only lyrically superb, but also musically incredible.
Right from the start, a cover of “Blues Run The Game” which manages to find something new to say in that song, this is a very special, inviting and beguiling collection. “Bones And Feathers” kicks in with some virtuoso playing, which combines superbly with Simpson’s northern tones and the quite wonderful “Thomas Drew” is a real highlight.
In truth, though, it is but one of many. The country stylings of “East Kentucky” are both sparse and dry as dust, but there is a real old-time and very English feel about “A Ballad For Katherine Of Aragon” and the storytelling here is immensely evocative.
“Maps” is another that transports the listener into a world of yesteryear and a world of memory and imagination. It is quite unlike anything else you’ve heard, as if to make good on Simpson’s promise. And the use of the imagery of the natural world here is, you sense, a microcosm of what the star and producer Andy Bell were looking to achieve here.
A varied work too, “St James’ Hospital” is bluesy and desolate, while there is a warmth about “Jasper’s Dancing Shoes” and even from a purely poetic point of view “Ridgeway” is stunning, and that’s before you factor in the accompaniment.
The idea that no one writes songs like this is perhaps never better exemplified than on “Rufford Park Poachers”, which is what Bluegrass sounds like when it’s from rural England rather than rural America.
Indeed this most beautiful and British collection ends with another gentle journey through the byways of the UK and “Reynardine” features some incredible acoustic work just for good measure.
Whether this is a career high or anything of the sort is rather impossible to say. We can however state with absolute certainty that “Trails And Tribulations” is a quite stunning piece of work, one which although challenging never stops being accessible and shows Martin Simpson to be almost without peer.
Rating 9/10
