Sam Lee
Album: The Fade In Time
Label: Nest Collective
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.samleesong.co.uk/

It's 4 years since Sam Lee baffled and beguiled in equal measure with the painstakingly researched debut album 'Ground of Its Own'. Second album 'The Fade In Time' is likely to further accentuate the sense of wonder and befuddled awe that greeted his debut as Lee's desire to soak up and share traditional music from all over the world sees the singer cast his net even further afield.

In the time since his debut Lee has garnered a Mercury Award nomination and established the fascinatingly eclectic Nest Collective folk club which brings traditional music from all over the world to stages in the capital. The global musical influences of the debut album are accentuated even further on the new record with a plethora of weird and wonderful instruments battling to be heard across the 12 tracks.

As on previous works Sam Lee has turned to long term muse, the Scottish traveller Stanley Robertson for inspiration and again several of the tunes on the album have been collected directly from him. Opener 'Johnnie O' The Brine' is one such track; a tale of poaching and hunting which is driven along by a frantic tribal rhythm and insistent brass. Alongside the tune the rhythm of Lee's own voice is every bit as remarkable and indeed pushes the album forward every bit as much as the instrumentation itself.

Interestingly on this album Lee has chosen to include snippets of some of the people who influenced his collection of tunes and the haunting ballad 'Lord Gregory' features an introduction from the Scots singer Charlotte Higgins, late of a collection put together in the 1960's by Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl. It's a beautiful song that runs through a gamut of emotions with understated intensity and emotion.

The influence of Eastern Europe and the Eurasian region is prominent throughout the album with a Slavic sounding operatic archive recording ushering in a rendition of 'Bonny Bunch Of Roses'. These collected recordings serve to provide a greater understanding of how Lee has put together his ideas, songs and stories and provide an air of clarity in what can, at times, be a tricky record to get your head round. Those with the staying power to give it repeat listens though will be rewarded with a rich, meandering tapestry of sounds and tales from a unique and supremely gifted purveyor of traditional music.

Rob Fearnley