If there was to be a Eurovision album contest for folk music then the UK (or England to be strictly more geographically relevant) would be supremely served by the new record from Joe Danks. It would be slightly ingenuous to call this a tick box folk release, even though it appears to cover a multitude of bases in what you would expect from a deep rooted and far reaching long player from this genre. SEASPEAK does what it says in the title with its strong maritime theme, but this is just the beginning as you excavate deep into the creative mind of one of this country's leading folk lights.
Joe Danks is known for work as a member of the band Ranagri and was the lucky recipient of a year long residency at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich courtesy of the English Folk Dance and Song Society's (EFDSS) 'Musicians in Museums' project to support his solo debut. Surrounded by such nautical stimuli, Danks pontificated about where this album could go and roamed many nooks and crevices unearthing poems, traditional songs and tunes, enlisting help from stellar musicians as well as dipping into his own songwriting well. The sum is an album brimming with intrigue and intellect alongside innovation and inspiration.
For forty-two minutes from the opening track 'Sea Fever' sparked by the entwining of two poems to a closing nod to the work of Ewan Maccoll with a delightful cover of 'Sweet Thames Flow Softly', the listener is riveted to where Danks takes this album. We get some widely prevalent sparkling tunes courtesy of esteemed musicianship, historical tales re-told in Danks' words ('Jutland 1916' and '308') and even Simon Harmer step dancing on two tracks including the second in line 'Quadrilles'.
Like all rounded folk albums of this ilk, the liner notes, or in this case, the comprehensive song booklet is an invaluable source of accompanying enjoyment. Where else can you learn of choosing the traditional song 'Man of War' to represent Turner's Battle of Trafalgar that proudly stands as the museum's leading nineteenth century piece of time commissioned artwork or the origin of 'Jumbo/The Matthew Scott Schottische'. Yes, it is about an elephant.
While fixated folk critics and aficionados will scrutinise the components of SEASPEAK, the twofold approach of letting the album casually float over you for a fair few spins before diving deep into the details worked wonders in getting the true worth of this record. Ultimately it proved a wise investment of listening time and a small part of payback to Joe Danks for sinking his whole craft into something that is set to reap rewards.
