It has been a long wait but here at last is Martin Callingham’s debut solo album. For those unfamiliar with the name, Martin was the lead singer and songwriter of Bristol alt-folk band Joyce The Librarian – actually I’m uncertain as to the status of JTL, but that’s not the subject at hand – and former band mate, guitarist Tom Van Eker is alongside him.
Martin has stayed with and refined the sound of Joyce The Librarian: clear acoustic guitar, layered strings and slightly ethereal vocals. The record opens with a short instrumental, ‘Rhosgoch’. At first hearing I was slightly disappointed that it didn’t develop further but it serves as an overture or amuse-bouche before the album. The first song is ‘Knots’, a pretty tune decorated with ringing electric guitar and Helen Stanley’s trumpet. ‘Hare On The Hill’, far from being the rural idyll you might be expecting, is about a Kingsdown pub while ‘Portland Square’ is another Bristol landmark and nowhere near the BBC, which is what I first thought. It boasts a big sound with Martin playing organ and bass as well as guitar.
There is another oddity. ‘Ken’ is a short guitar instrumental under and over a field recording of what I take to be a primary school – but I may well be wrong. If I have to be critical it would be to say that Martin isn’t big on explanations – that may be quite deliberate, of course – and that lyrics would be of huge benefit. It’s not that his singing is unclear, just that it occupies the same sound palette as the accompaniments and they often blend into one. This is really lovely album and I have no reservations about that.
Dai Jeffries
Artist’s website: www.martincallingham.com
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