The Portraits
Album: Lions And Butterflies
Label: Sensorypulse
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.theportraitsmusic.com

Mellow melodies, alluring arrangements, haunting harmonies, Alt Folkies, The Portraits fresh from performing at this year's Glastonbury and Cambridge Folk Festivals have produced an album of sheer beauty in their new release "Lions & Butterflies".

From the opening track, "Walls Of Silence", inspired by David Nicholls bestselling novel "One Day", and the age old premise that London (or any large city) offers opportunities, all you need is belief and ability to succeed. Unfortunately real life can be quite different. A song of dreams that are unfulfilled, of falling between the cracks and not being noticed, of slipping away with barely a whisper. Yet the delivery of the song in the hands and voice of Lorraine Millington takes on its own life as it lifts and soothes, resonating harmony.

Soaring violins from Kelly Jakubowski and Vincent Imbert complement perfectly Jeremy Millington's piano as "Exile" adds neo-classical tones whilst exploring the situation in oppressive states such as Russia and their treatment of artists such as Pussy Riot "Dare you dare to sing out? So Loud".

"Fairy Lights" addresses the effect of Colonialism and the greed of an Empire . Protest music then that is silky smooth, a little like that for which Chumbawamba became renowned for.

And beauty there is in "Moon Song" as a picture is painted of a memory held behind your eyes. Whilst "The Cloud" examines depression from a personal point of view and our attempts at controlling our feelings and focusing on the bright path out of the darkness and gloom "All I can do, is keep my head clear of the butterflies, that swarm all around me, and form a cloud of confusion" .

The depth of individual feelings and subject matter really stand out along with that rare ability to make you stop and consider day to day objects from a new and valid viewpoint. Take "Monochrome" for example, inspired by a Canadian woman (Carol Spurdens), which reflects on the closeness of the lives, laughs, loves and aspirations of folk separated by centuries as they peer out of sepia photographs.

The single, "The Rest Of Time", I approached having been vaguely aware that the catchy song had made the iTunes charts on the back of "collecting" over 2,000 voices and little else. The song commentary told much more about the awful tragedy of deaths due to blood cancers.

In Jeremys 'own words "2014 marked a decade since I lost my Dad Graham to a particularly nasty strain of Leukaemia. If not a cure, my Dad could have had more time had medics been able to find a bone marrow donor match for his tissue type, which they failed to do despite scouring national and international donor databases. Ten years later, medical science has moved on greatly and today becoming a donor is far easier, but little has changed in terms of the number of available donors, which is crazy and tragic in equal measure. Anyone healthy and fulfilling the prescribed age requirements can be a donor - and very easily, without any cost or fear of significant disruption to daily life, which most people don't realise. In the vast majority of cases, no major operation is needed, and donating bone marrow or stem cells is barely more of a life imposition than giving blood. Most potential donors don't know they have it in their grasp to save a life, and meanwhile, as the song says, so many are waiting, not daring to hope that someone might gift them time.

It's powerful heartfelt and moving stuff, if you want to know more http://deletebloodcancer.org.uk is the place to be.

"Payback" reflects that doing "good" doesn't guarantee you happiness or health; there is not always a payback, nor should we expect one. Yet should that prevent us making random acts of kindness? I hope not. The song stops short of suggesting we are the legacy of our tragedies and asking whether we rise or fall is up to us.

"Stand By" closes the album, it's a gorgeous slice of accapella concerning the terrible scenes in Syria although it could equally apply to many more scenarios. " We cannot stand by, While the suits all take sides, Debating how strongly to criticise, The powers look on, Denounce and meanwhile, Leave a dictator to murder in style, I won't stand by, I won't stand by".Jeremy explains the thoughts behind the song. "What the world is crying out for is a quiet, united, powerful, peaceful movement where we reflect on what is wrong with the world as a whole, and then choose to live our lives in such a way that none of our day to day actions supports states with terrible human rights records or those that prop them up. We could really make a difference. But we need to care enough. The movement would need to be whole-hearted and that would involve each of us making compromises to the lives to which we've become accustomed, in which our eating, shopping, travel and general comforts of life ultimately depend on the suffering of others. We'd need to live in a truly ethical way, and for many of us that is very sadly a step too far.”

It's an impressive thought provoking closure to" Lion and Butterflies" an album of sublime music and rock solid social commentary. One to beg, steal or borrow.

Ian Cripps