On their third album, Suffolk folk duo Honey and the Bear once again serve up refined regionally defined music that broadens the horizon of listeners elsewhere. In line with previous records, local dialect goes straight to the cover this time bringing to the fore 'fret', an East Anglian term for mist and fog that drifts in from the sea. Thus joining past album titles containing similar Suffolk words, 'roke' and 'aker'. From the striking artistic cover through the thirteen tracks forming its content, AWAY BEYOND THE FRET sways between locally sourced influences and the ultimate pull from treasures closer to home.
Honey and the Bear are wife and husband Lucy and Jon Hart with an expanded team of numerous guest players when entering the studio or venturing out on the road in a greater sum than the core. The impact of the music is sweet to the ear and informative to the mind for those partial to the odd story nugget.
Four under reported historical figures get their story incorporated into a folk song rich in lore and advocative justice. The sea is the link between unlicensed life saving pilot Joshua Chard who is simply lauded 'The Suffolk Hero' and courageous mariner Salvador Alvarenga whose survival story is captured in '5500 Miles'. Attention switches to another local figure in 'Daughter' championing pioneer female doctor Elizabeth Garrett-Anderson, while the trailblazing astronomer Cecilia Payne is honoured in 'Head in the Stars'.
The sea returns as the inspiration for two further locally influenced songs. 'Do You Keep it Underneath' features 18th century smugglers, while a true story of superstition involving acorns and a lifeboat gets told in 'The Mighty Oak'. The final piece of an historic persuasion this time revolves around local industrial heritage with the lengthy process of moving goods detailed in 'Over Land, Over Sea'.
Elsewhere things are a little closer to home. Album finale 'Stay with You' emotively flourishes with the adoration given to the Hart's recently born daughter, and significantly earlier in the record three generations of a family from a female perspective are decorated in 'Dear Grandmother'. Wider family contemplation is dealt in 'Make This Land Our Home' before inspiration moves a touch more adrift yet still very real in 'Finn's Jig'. Concluding the themes are changing seasons in 'Silverlace Green' and dreaming big in 'The Trying'.
Savouring any Honey and the Bear album is an immersive experience. It begins with a dive into the themes that also arouse curiosity and interest. The summit is listening to how they concoct an ensemble of folk sounds encompassing a traditional and contemporary feel before weaving them into fulfilling songs packed with allure. Lucy and Jon Hart are gifted vocalists, versatile musicians, inclusive band leaders and explorative songwriters. All ingredients that make Honey and the Bear an accomplished folk act and AWAY BEYOND THE FRET an album of depth, assurance and a fascinating insight into often unheard stories.
