Seth Lakeman
Album: Word Of Mouth
Label: Cooking Vinyl
Tracks: 11 (+ 3 on the special edition)
Website: http://www.sethlakeman.co.uk

Two years down the line from 'Tales From The Barrel House', the album which saw Seth Lakeman getting back to a more organic way of writing and recording, we have his latest set in 'Word Of Mouth'.

Never was there a more appropriate title for a record as the theme picks up from where 'Barrel House' left off. Building on from its collection of pieces inspired by traditional arts and crafts of his South West environ, 'Word Of Mouth' gathers together a set of songs which are a result of his collecting tales and stories from some of the people and places in the same area.

The result is a natural successor; a fully realised, more confident and assured realisation of what he set out to do with 'Barrel House'. Instead of handling all musical duties himself, this time he's involved the usual band sidekicks, brother Sean, Ben Nicholls, Cormac Byrne and Lisbee Stainton as well as several cameo appearances along the way by some notable names.

Taking the cue from recording the last album in a 'real' location, the sessions took place in North Tamerton church, obviously inspiring the musicians to deliver in a more natural environment rather than the sterility of a studio setting. A few tasters from the album had already crept into the live set in the Autumn tour schedule, so dedicated Lakeman watchers (or 'Mirelings' as the more enthusiastic members of 'The Mire' online forum are known) will be familiar with the urgency in the dramatic rumbling drums and familiar Lakeman fiddle bowing of 'The Courier'; its lyric recalling the stone markers of medieval Dartmoor's Mavern Way. There's also 'Last Rider', another boisterous live tune which lyrically and musically evokes childhood memories of Casey Jones ("a-steamin and a-rollin") and wouldn't be out of place in any remake of 'Back To The Future Part 3's barn dance scene and features a fine banjo picking cameo from bluegrass hero Leon Hunt.

Also debuted in the live set, 'Tiger' is more musically diverse with Ben Nicholl's double bass being evocative of Pino Palladino's fretless bass work in Paul Young's eighties recordings, as it accompanies the interpretation of the tragic deaths of the D-Day rehearsals at Slapton Sands and the memories of Reg Hannaford, the last living witness of the disaster. The Broadside ballad 'Portrait Of My Wife' has also had some airing last year, being featured as part of the Full English project and is a tender and touching way to close out the album. It's been (and will continue to be ) a solo spot highlight in live performances where the personal nature of the piece is quite moving.

The tribute to the Devonport Dockyards and the lifelong work of John York is explored in 'Another Long Night', which some fans will find familiar as a left over from the previous album (along with the lovely 'Cooper's Hands') and comes over as a slightly brighter take and not quite as 'earthy' as the previous one. Its fiddle play out is just calling for a live version which will pick up pace and launch into a trademark Lakeman full on hoe down.

Of the rest of the album, there's familiarity in the frantic immediacy of 'The Ranger' which has a refrain verging on the Eastern and opening number 'The Wanderer' setting an atmosphere which reeks of a dank and foggy moor ("sliding hills and sculpted vales") and the thoughts of the travellers for whom the road is their abode. The serene ballads 'The Saddest Crowd' and 'Labour She Calls Home' provide the musical balance alongside the plucked fiddle notes to 'Bells' with its accompanying harmonium which works much better than previous efforts in the same vein such as 'Changes' and 'Apple Of His Eye'.

For those shelling out a tad extra for the special edition, the handsomely packaged bookpack contains a disc of three additional tracks - one of which, 'End Of Day' came about after a visit to Dartmoor Prison with the lyrics coming from a prison poetry competition. It also contains a collection of original interview soundbites edited into the musical tracks to provide some background to the songs beyond the sleevenotes. It's similar to what Ewan MacColl did with his 'Radio Ballads' and provides a short yet fascinating insight into the source material. In particular, Tony Hallworth's emotive voiceover as he talks of the last of the steam engines of Cornwall: "you got to be in tune with the locomotive" shows his affinity with the subtleties and passion of his job, especially as he notes, "I cried at the end of my last trip - it was the end of an era to me." It's a small touch but shows how effectively the stories and the subject matter have been turned into tangible lyrics and songs which have some true authenticity and depth.

The package also contains a short DVD 'making of' the album. It seems almost obligatory these days to document every step of recording with a video camera, and this footage gives a brief glimpse. There's a great bit within the first few seconds of the feature where Seth is set up in headphones discussing a key feature of a track, yet clearly his mind elsewhere, when he says "shall we have a quick cup of tea?"

After spending a couple of albums dabbling with a more commercial approach, the about face which began with 'Barrel House' and has continued with 'Word Of Mouth' and has seen Mr Lakeman much more at home and comfortable in his skin. Perhaps his maturity has seen him discover and fulfil his muse much more productively, but he's produced a record which shows empathy and integrity combined with some requisite rollicking tunes.

Mike Ainscoe