On the evidence of witnessing only the second ever Ward Knutur Townes gig, this trio will be a mighty formidable outfit by the time the inaugural run of shows is done and dusted. It helped that British folk singer Lucy Ward, Icelandic singer-songwriter Svavar Knutur and Canadian troubadour Adyn Townes are experienced operators in their own individual sphere coupled with being in possession of an impressive debut album courting praise from across the media spectrum. Erudite humble bloggers and the wide reaching domain of national newspapers have joined forces to celebrate the wealth of UNANSWERED, which is set to be one of the surprise folk music successes of the year. If listening to a record born out of captive online collaboration provides one perspective, a whole new dynamic comes to the fore when they bring the riches to the stage. After a premiere in Ward's hometown of Derby, the folk music arm of Newhampton Arts Centre in Wolverhampton was next in line and it was treats galore as an astute audience lapped up the delights of two endearing 45-minute sets.
Even prolonged inter-song chat was not going fill the time slot with the mere contents of a 40-minute album, so scope existed for each performer to offer a distinct flavour of who they are as a solo artist. This in turn evidenced how they were able to filter their own talents into an ambitious collaborative process.
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| Svavar Knutur |
Ward led the way with three compositions from her back catalogue, while her two travelling colleagues shared a pair each. This slightly evened things up as they edged the song choices that eventually made it onto the album. On home turf, Ward was probably more at ease with UK audiences and knew she was on safe ground with a traditional leaning offering joining two fiery singalongs right at the core of the protest side to her music. 'Alice in the Bacon Box' was well-received in the first half of the show, while 'Bigger Than That' immediately followed the intermission with her returning to the stage solo. With the audience revved up for some participation, a further powerful piece 'For the Dead Men' flourished in the final stages. We haven't seen too much of Lucy Ward live on stage in recent years and have missed her. It is hoped the desire is there to return even when this collaboration comes to its natural end.
The other two would no doubt concur that the Icelandic idiosyncrasies of Svavar Knutur were the star turns of the evening. Slightly quirky and forever entertaining, you really had a sense of his home culture when listening to the back stories from both the album content and the two individual songs he selected to play. The first of these was titled 'While the World Burns' and involved all three players either on guitars or vocals. The pick of Knutur's pair was 'November', emphatically explained and expertly delivered alone when the other two temporarily left the stage. It was a case of Iceland warts and all.
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| Adyn Townes |
Adyn Townes shared both his separate tunes with the others. Maybe it would have been more focussed to deliver one totally solo, if just to balance things. 'Leave it Alone' came early in the show, while the personally family focussed 'Churchill' came deep in the second set.
While the separate songs added the spice, the core ingredients of this intoxicating show were the songs from the new album. All but one of the tracks were shared with the odd one out being the entirely Icelandic closer 'Orgar Brim'. Perhaps a step too far on the language front for the stage this evening. The bi-lingual title track of the album did see Townes and Ward move away from their first language for the evening finale. This was the crowning moment with the only possible enhancement being references to the story behind the disconnected telephone that inspires 'Unanswered'.
Most of the ten album tracks played possessed enlightening introductions with the originator leading the way. Two of Aydn Townes' contributions confirmed their standout credentials in the live setting. 'Everything' was the best song on the night, while 'Seasons' continues to move the listener with each play. 'Astronaut', which opened the show. and 'Aurora' were vintage Lucy Ward story songs and came across eloquently to those sitting attentively in awe. The song that made an enormous leap of appeal from record to stage was 'Medusa'. Maybe this was down to Svavar Knutur's impassioned introduction, but it reached fresh parts in a different setting.
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| Lucy Ward |
The half a dozen aforementioned songs from the album were multiple peaks. That is not saying that the quartet of 'Paper Plane', 'Work it Out', 'Isn't it Funny' and 'Your Love Was Death to Me' were too far behind. Prime quality in song structure, musicianship and vocal harmony was prevalent across the whole evening and a crushing accolade to the perfect decision to bring the album to a live setting.
Fine tuning, live practise and greater comfort in a shared stage environment will feed into how the Ward Knutur Townes tour evolves. Attending an early one had little fears and boosted the appeal of an interesting collaboration that has plenty left in the tank to flourish. There is a little doubt that in their own right Lucy Ward, Svavar Knutur and Adyn Townes are accomplished performers. The former has been a firm favourite for nearly ten years here, while the latter two have announced their arrival with a fanfare in 2023. The result is an exceptional album and an equally excellent live show.