Megson
Album: In A Box
Label: EDJ
Tracks: 10
Website: http://www.megsonmusic.co.uk

I have to declare, from the outset, I have been a great admirer of Megson [husband and wife duo Stu and Debbie Hanna] since purchasing their album "Take Yourself A Wife" in 2008. Last year I had the pleasure of reviewing [in these pages] their live album "Megson Live". Now they have followed that up with a cracking new studio album "In A Box".

Megson are something of a "cottage industry" in that they recorded this album at home, with Stu and Debbie playing all of the instruments [with the exception of cameo appearances by Seth Lakeman, Jess Morgan [who also did the art direction and design] and Ben,Jade and Cliff from Cambridgeshire band The Willows], with Stu producing. They were assisted by the fact that their young child Lola Wren "slept like a dream at night " so that they could get on with recording.

Stu and Debbie came from different musical backgrounds [ punk and classical respectively] and this really distinguishes them from other male/female duos on the contemporary folk scene.

Megson say that this new collection of songs is "inspired by the major milestones of life -birth,death,love and the passing of time". Furthermore, they have turned to their native North East [ie. Newcastle, Gateshead, Middlesborough, Durham] for inspiration, which gives the album a satisfying sense of continuity of place, whether the lyrics are self-composed or from traditional/historic sources.

Stu and Debbie seem to have a knack of unearthing fascinating and unusual subjects for their songs. The non-original songs on this album cover a diverse range of topics including a mining disaster ["Clifton Hall Mine"]; the sorry story of a sailor's widow who marries a Nabob only to discover, on the wedding night, that he has two wooden legs ["Bet Beesley And Her Wooden Man"]; a gossiping stonemason [Charlie The Newsmonger"]; a grand tea party ["Old Folk's Tea"] and a song about a miner who is a cruel lover ["Still I Love Him"].

Of the original songs by Debbie and Stu, "The River Never Dies" has a similar theme to Jimmy Nail's 1995 song "Big River" [which was about the River Tyne, whereas Megson's song is about the River Tees]. Both songs tell of the disasters and hardships suffered by the communities who live by the rivers but have an optimistic note in that the river "will go on".

"Songs To Soothe A Tired Heart" was originally intended to be on Megson's collection of children's songs "When I Was A Lad" [2012] but has instead appeared on this album. Three members of The Willows, Ben, Jade and Cliff, make sterling contributions on dobro, vocals and fiddle respectively, to help create a truly lovely lullaby which, no doubt, helped Lola Wren to get to sleep!

Stu and Debbie's "Dirty Clothes" is a superb song which traces the passage of life from childhood to old age and concludes that, despite the passing of time, we remain the same throughout our life. The insightful lyrics are complemented by a powerful guitar and mandolin accompaniment from Stu.

Stu and Debbie's song "Moses Carpenter" tells the true story of Ska-Run-Ya-Te, a Native American Mohawk who went to Middlesborough as a member of a travelling medicine show but was struck down by fever and died there. Reportedly, fifteen thousand local residents turned out to watch his funeral procession, which is quite extraordinary. Debbie's typically gorgeous vocals relate the sad story beautifully.

The final [and title] track "In A Box" has a great personal resonance with me [and I am sure, many other people of the same age] in that it deals with the subject of the possessions that we accumulate during our lives and where we come to a point where we have to decide what to keep and what to dispose of , in respect of "All those memories stored in a box". It contains the immortal lines "Maybe you could tell me why we have still got that box set of "Friends", Bloody show seemed to never end, It just went on and on and on". I am sure that this brilliant song will strike a chord with many people!

In conclusion, let me say that this is a stunning album which scores top marks in every department- songwriting, singing, musicianship and production. Undoubtedly, this will be seen as one of the folk albums of the year and deservedly so. Great stuff.

Peter Cowley