Leveret
Album: New Anything
Label: Rootbeat
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.leveretband.com

I have been eagerly awaiting this release for some time now, as a huge fan of Andy Cutting, Sam Sweeney and Rob Harbon is their respective works and projects so a collaboration between them is much desired.

It's safe to say I haven't been disappointed; Leveret's 'New Anything' is eleven tracks of goose bumps. The three artists each have years of experience between them and it really comes across is such a well balanced, well player album.

There is an excellent combination of original compositions and old traditional tunes found in manuscripts and books. It is always good for albums to have a mix of sources to be well rounded and polished.

All of the tunes are instrumental and although formed with some structure also were formed with elements of spontaneity to really capture the best of Folk tunes. When you attend a session as well as recognisable tunes you get unique interpretations and adaptations that may well never be played again as musicians go with the flow of the music and capture the atmosphere of the time. I believe this album reaches out to really reproduce that same atmosphere and feeling in album form.

They succeed; each tune feels unique and special with its own different flavour. There is also a good variation on different tempos, so some good foot stompers to some slower tunes. I think every tune on the album could be successfully danced too by Morris groups. In regards to the actual atmosphere generated it is very different on each tune.

Tunes such as 'It's a Square Word/ Cossack Square' you have a very light, fun atmosphere that makes you want to dance around, and this is the most common throughout the tunes. There are of course some good exceptions like 'Upon Summers A Summer's Day/ Abbots Bromley Horn dance' which certainly starts more mystical and mysterious.

You can even tell from the playing, in tunes such as 'New Anything/ St Catherine' as the tune develops, how much fun was clearly had in playing it. All players get louder and more passionate as the tune grows making you feel like you are having as much fun listening as they had playing it.

This is a great album and I really hope Leveret continue their work and produce many more gems for the folk word, they are a combination of plays that each as special skills and experience to add. It is a collaboration that works very naturally and has so much more to give to the folk community. Keep going please!

Paul Rawcliffe