RED MOON ROAD – Sorrows And Glories (Folkwit f0135)

sorrows and gloriesSorrows And Glories falls somewhere outside Folkwit’s usual sphere of influence but not by as much as I thought on first hearing. Red Moon Road are a Canadian trio from Winnipeg and, despite some fairly mainstream songs (but not too many), their third album has the quirkiness that often distinguishes the label’s British acts.

The set opens with the a cappella (except for handclaps and foot-stomps) ‘Beauty In These Broken Bones’ written by lead vocalist Sheena Rattai with the three principals augmented by a nineteen-strong choir. It’s something of gospel shouter and very un-Canadian sounding. ‘Crashing Down’ by Daniel Jordan has a skiffle feel with the writer playing a split drum kit and acoustic guitar and Jordan is also responsible for ‘Old Things’, a song which has the feel of the wide open prairies and the minutiae of life in a small farming community.

The French influence becomes apparent with ‘Sophie Blanchard 1778’.  Blanchard was the first woman balloonist and was feted by both Napoleon and Louis XVIII and the song celebrates her life and tells of her death in a crash in the Tivoli Gardens. The third member of the group, Daniel Péloquin-Hopfner, wrote the whimsical ‘Rivière’ that closes the album in French and also the remarkable ‘Cassiopeia’, a retelling of the legend of Perseus and Andromeda. Sometimes quirky doesn’t begin to describe it.

My favourite song is the country-folk ‘Planting Trees’ which tells the tale of an immigrant and his descendents. The back-story is touched upon: “Your hands upon the rail had held a baby, plough and gun”. He, or possibly she, learned the language, bought a farm and planted trees and the song finally speaks of great-grandchildren.

The musical vocabulary seems simple: basically guitars and percussion with some guests on bass, organ and trumpet with a string quartet on one track. Sheena and the two Daniels also add mandolin, banjo, glockenspiel and piano but nothing is ever overdone. The result is an album of great variety.

Dai Jeffries

Artists’ website: www.redmoonroad.com

‘Beauty In These Broken Bones’ – official video:


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