Stan Graham
Album: Fragile
Label: Magpie
Tracks: 15
Website: http://www.stangraham.co.uk

Highly regarded singer-songwriter and long-standing resident performer at York's celebrated Black Swan Folk Club, Stan's now releasing his fifth CD for our delectation. Although it continues the tradition of generously relaxed, amiable songwriting that has become Stan's trademark, it does ring some changes and brings one or two surprises into the proceedings.

The title song, for a start, finds Stan accompanied not by his trusty guitar but by Angus Lyon's equally mellifluous piano. This change of instrument is a bit of a jolt to the senses at first, but it's easy to warm to the mellow, somehow even more laid-back and sanguine complexion that this brings to the lyric. Interestingly, though, Stan has chosen to bookend the CD with a second rendition of Fragile, recorded live with his own guitar and augmented by Stewart Hardy's fiddle and Wendy Weatherby's cello. That's the Stan we know and love, and this tender rendition conveys all the loving care with which Stan habitually crafts his songs. The song's theme is a familiar one within Stan's œuvre, a tribute to the indomitable, inextinguishable human spirit; aspects of this theme are expressed throughout the CD with typical insight and sensitivity, qualities which are expertly mirrored in producer Angus Lyon's carefully configured and ultra-sympathetic musical backdrops. Even so, these are by and large kept admirably simple, in keeping with the feel of Stan's songs. This latest selection, while seemingly effortlessly maintaining the high standard already set by its predecessors, is evidence of Stan's continually developing songcraft - and the presence of a Tom Paxton cover midway through the CD, fitting in perfectly with Stan's own creations, is further testament to the quality and consistency of Stan's own invention. Although the majority of the songs here are new, Stan's not afraid to revisit or rework past successes (Alice and Tiptoe Up The Flight Of Stairs first appeared on the 1996 cassette Late In The Day, for instance), but such enterprise only reinforces the consistency of Stan's output over the past couple of decades.

On each successive record, though, Stan's been really fortunate to have been able to call upon the talents of several truly high-calibre musicians to help realise his special vision. On this latest record, in addition to those already mentioned, we encounter Anna Massie, Jamie McClennon, Emily Smith, Ian Sandilands and James Lindsay, who all provide seriously characterful and well-judged contributions. It's probably unfair to single out any individuals here, but Emily Smith's backing vocal on Down Memory Lane is particularly lovely, and the accordion-and-fiddle arrangement really suits This Old Town (a teasing portrait of Whitby). The animated, stirring beat of Call To Arms recalls the glory days of the John Wright Band, and that song, another in Stan's military-slanted canon, delivers a clear disc highlight. The genial western-swing aura of the travelogue Somewhere In America provides a further, and more light-hearted, contrast from the more uniformly wistful demeanour of much of the rest of the CD, with its spirited fiddle and mandolin engaging in playful dialogue in support of Stan's even-toned crooning.

Elsewhere, if I'm entirely honest, I feel the choice of piano to lead the accompaniment on a small handful of the songs doesn't always do those particular songs justice, and may be felt to create a balance that's arguably over-expressive for a song's understated sentiment; but in fairness, my own long-term familiarity with Stan's songwriting idiom may place me at a disadvantage over less "biased" listeners to this CD or those new to his music. Having said that, a mildly experimental mix of guitar and keyboard in a slightly jazzy, syncopated setting works well for Following The Music Home.

The listener's increased familiarity with the whole CD following (recommended) purchase will bring ample dividends; anyone seeking a thoroughly appealing, reliable, musically accessible yet gently eclectic singer-songwriter CD (with lyrics helpfully provided) really should not hesitate.

David Kidman