For some time now, since the arrival of his 2004’s Kitty Jay and 2005
Mercury nominated debut, Devonian Seth Bernard Lakeman has set tongues wagging.
Folk purists are in a bit of a spin as to where his music actually lies. There
were the Hip Hop nods on Gold selling follow-up Freedom Fields to compound things.
To confirm he’d ‘arrived’ he was awarded Singer Of The Year and Best Album at
2007's BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
Poor Man’s Heaven is far more expansive and adventurous still. As the
violinist of the moment, 31 year old Lakeman has bigger ideas – stadium engulfing
power, with a twist.
His intent is there from the start – The Hurlers. Its thumping drum intro
is the perfect stab start for a radio DJ’s opening shot. Soon the frantic violin
kicks - in boosted by a whopping call.. "Come on boys you know where you
stand…" on this Irish-tinged monster. The hooks are unrelenting. The
rockier template continues Feather In The Storm, like much of his work,
it includes story-telling traditions of folk.
The most noticeable inclusion here is the Jimmy Page styled slide guitar and
Zep-like rock riff, which settles down into a neat Bluesy sway. Things go more
trad for the next two. He introduces splashes of mandolin, accordion and harmonica
(Crimson Dawn) though Blood Red Sky has a slightly rockier edge
on ominous Blood Red Sky.
The sad tale of tragic event surrounding the ill-fated
Penlee lifeboat are brought into sharp focus on Solomon Brown, intended
to keep the story very much alive through his deeply emotive lyrics. Again Led Zep (3) influences surface for melodic ballad I’ll Haunt You, whereas Irish jig fuelled Race To Be King is a sprightly and
bouncy full-on example of Lakeman’s mastery of folky playing.
For me the weak spots are the title track and laborious Green And Gold,
though simple ballad Sound Of A Drum, a reworking of traditional song
The Unquiet Grave, restores the balance, just.
1. The Hurlers
2. Feather In A Storm
3. Crimson Dawn
4. Blood Red Sky
5. Solomon Brown
6. Cherry Red Girl
7. I’ll Haunt You
8. Race To Be King
9. Poor Man’s Heaven
10. Greed And Gold
11. Sound Of A Drum
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
