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Finn Collinson Artist:Finn Collinson
Album: The Threshold
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 10
Website: https://www.finncollinson.com/

Once in a while, you get a real surprise in your inbox. "The Threshold" is one such surprise. It's a while since I reviewed Finn Collinson's debut album "Call To Mind", and also too long since I've played it. I described that debut as "a work of true quality", and with "The Threshold", released on 7th October, I can promise more of the same, but it also carries a maturity that bucks the popular myth about second albums.

This album of ten tracks includes four vocal tracks courtesy of Collinson himself, backed by the wonderful voice of long-time collaborator and oboe player Emma Beach, and Collinson's backing lineup both for the album and for this year's tour includes guitar and diatonic accordion from Archie Churchill-Moss (False Lights, Sam Kelly, Tom Moore & Archie Moss), bodhran and percussion from Evan Carson (The Drystones, Sam Kelly, Honey & The Bear), and guest contributions from Tom Leader (who also played guitar on "Call To Mind"), and Simon Chorley.

"Big Smoke I", by which one assumes Collinson is referring to his time in London, is a beautiful way to introduce an album. Both Finn Collinson and Michael Walsh have converted me to 'woodwind folk' (for want of a better expression) by using the flutes and whistles optimally during their works. Prior to that I wasn't a big fan, and still have nightmares about James Galway's Greatest Hits!

"Big Smoke II" follows on, with guitar backing bringing a more urgent rhythm to the piece. The blend between the two tracks is seamless, and this second part allows Collinson freedom to express his skills in a duet first with the diatonic accordion of Archie Churchill-Moss, and second with Emma Beach's oboe. The track builds in bouncing style with all instruments having played their part.

"The Ship That Never Returned" begins with Carson tapping out an edge of the bodhran rhythm, and is the first of the vocal tracks. Collinson has one of those truly English folk voices. The song reminds me a little of some of the more acoustic output from Levellers, with an instrumental melody that seems to fuse folk sounds from all corners of the British Isles and across the water in island.

The crisp guitar opening for "Pool's Hole" gives way to Collinson's flute dealing out a medieval rock sound, backed again with Beach's oboe and contemporary acoustic guitar rhythms. I don't know why, but for me this track evokes a smugglers' cave and has a lovely echo at the end of the piece that leads nicely into "Jerry Bundler", probably the catchiest folk song on the album, and certainly one of my personal picks from a very good album. It includes some 'Tull' moments and nicely placed background effects.

"John William's Schottische" would grace an album by any of the acclaimed Scottish contemporary folk instrumentalists, and again brings Collinson's flute to the fore.

"Banks Of The Sweet Primroses" is a much recorded 19th century folk song, well placed in an album that really brings the song a new life, blessed with some excellent folk guitar from Churchill-Moss and a beautifully blended vocal duet between Collinson and Beach. This is up there with the stand out tracks on the album. "Time For Bed" lifts the pace with guitar and flute combining to produce another vibrant, 'trans-Celtic' tune that hooks you in and holds you throughout. The track highlights Collinson's exceptional skill on his chosen main instrument, with a rhythm enhanced by Carson's bodhran.

"Twelve Floors" has a more reflective mood to it, and appears to be an autobiographical song, with a melancholy but at the same time positive mood. The album concludes with its title track. "The Threshold" again gives a nod to the music traditions on which British folk music is founded, with initial touches of baroque fusing with modern day folk rock.

"The Threshold" combines a number of music elements. Essentially a folk album, it manages to fuse traditional and conventional, historical and contemporary, to produce a unique piece of work that I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to. So Finn Collinson has blown out of the water any thought that a second album can be anything other than triumphal. This is a very fine piece of work and you should give it a deep listen.

John Reed

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