Gren Bartley
Album: Magnificent Creatures
Label: Fellside
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.grenbartley.com

I have been an enthusiastic follower of Gren Bartley's career since booking him (several times!) in his partnership with Tom Kitching, where the combination of Tom's fiddle and Gren's voice and guitar provided some of the best nights I have promoted.

Both artists have moved on to explore new musical avenues and Gren's current venture is the band responsible for making the ravishing sounds on this CD - Julia Disney (violin, piano & vocals), Sarah Smout (cello & vocals) and Lydia Glanville (percussion). Mention should also be made of the producer Gavin Monaghan whose previous work with artists including Ryan Adams and Robert Plant has almost certainly informed his work on this CD - the sound quality is pristine and dynamically perfect.

As with most of Gren's songs, the lyrics are poetic and on most tracks the music reflects that - Gren's intricate guitar, the string arrangements and backing vocals from Julia and Sarah and Lydia's responsive percussion are all perfectly judged.

Although most of the songs tend to be reflective in terms of both words and music, there is a hugely exciting contrast in the form of the nearly seven minute long 'Nightingale' where the arrangement, filled out with flute, accordion and bass, feels quasi orchestral and puts me in mind of a modern incarnation of the classical / prog band Renaissance - no faint praise that! 'Home Soon' has a strong blues influence emphasised by Gavin Monaghan's harmonica and further variety is provided by the short a capella CD closer 'Silent Hotel'. The penultimate track - the beautiful 'This Changes Everything' where the intimacy of Gren's voice demands that the listener stops anything they are doing and listens - is an outstanding example of the songsmith's art.

I first heard a preview of this CD when travelling down the M1. Even with all the inevitable extraneous noise that accompianied that first listen I could tell that I was witnessing something special - listening in more ideal conditions has fully confimed that. A superb piece of work from all involved and highly recommended.

Joe Grint