FURLINED – Kill Devil Hills (Concave Music CCV03) 

Kill Devil HillsA name new to me, it seems Furlined have been around for some time, Kill Devil Hills being album number three. However, the name seems more a vehicle for the singer-songwriter, Neil Crossley, than an actual band, with other musicians coming and going as needed. This becomes perhaps apparent, through the, at times, occasional scattergun approach to style or genre, the album/band never quite sure what genre it is attached. This isn’t a problem as such; his writing is sound, but it can get a little chaotic in combination. But, for all that, it is certainly an interesting ride.

Opening track, the title track, in fact, is a scorcher, bursting out the traps in a welter of fiddle and gee-tar led folk rock, not unakin to vintage Fairport. As the Knopfler-like vocal strikes up, maybe it’s country-rock, but who’s counting, as wherever between the two it hits, it hits. It is a good start, the fiddle coming courtesy Georgina Leach, a guest more normally part of Ethan Johns’ Black Eyed Dogs, or with Seasick Steve. This track is also graced by a rhythm section of Tim Tucker and Phil Ollerenshaw, the latter providing a delightful clatter around his kit, and Neville Marten’s guitar.

‘From Montclair To Tupelo’ probably nails which side the Atlantic the influence is most aligned to, the clue in the name, and it is another cracker, if a little more restrained. A rotating guitar motif is overlayed by longer notes, etched in echo. The vocal is a little more rounded than the earlier Knopfler reference and is a pleasing instrument. The backing is now from the current iteration of Furlined, the band, so Greg White, Graham J. Nicholls and Dan Everett, drums, guitar and bass respectively. Crossley plays additional guitar, as well as singing.

Assuming Hillman cars never made much a mark in the U.S., ‘He Drives A Hillman’ has a lyric that suggests more Crossley’s British heritage, even if the arrangement is pure and dreamy West Coast, with lap steel and woozy harmonies. Crossley’s voice has become richer still, a glossy baritone. The peaceful easy feeling invoked is then upended for ‘Sanctuary Lives’, which is quirky match of 90’s indie croon, with mariachi, with the trumpet, from Andy Hague, a surprisingly effective touch. As if the teardrop exploded in Amarillo.

Retaining that same vocal style, ‘Cinamon Gum’ is now pure-pop and post-punk at once, yet with a gloriously retro guitar solo. If you can imagine Heaven 17 jamming with U2, that’s almost where it is, if with Knopfler-alike back, this time on guitar. Reading the promo pack, the penny drops: Crossley put Furlined on hold in 2015, becoming part of International Blue, a Tony Visconti inspired ‘boyband’ to specialise in Walker Brothers ‘pop croon’. No, me neither, but the other three singers were Midge Ure, Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17) and Liam McKahey (Cousteau). Intriguing or what?!? (And yes, there was/is an eponymous album.)

‘Two Of A Kind’, should I be surprised, then has a near facsimile ‘No Regrets’ arrangement. If it has a differing main melody, the thrust is nonetheless entirely Walker Brothers. Again, it is offset by an appealing guitar solo, but the plaid and the prairies are all now miles away. This is all dark suits, white shirts and indoor shades territory. ‘You Will Never Believe Your Eyes’ runs with this idea still further. It is a beguilingly overblown song, a lovely one, even, with sinuous cello from Tegan Everett, but any linkage with the earlier songs is getting harder and harder to trace.

‘Katherine The Great’ remains in big ballad territory, a song written for his daughter, with lyrics only a father would or could write. Charmingly mawkish, or mawkishly charming, one of the two, I like it. ‘Dreaming of Houses’ also links back to his family and his past, if now stretching a little too hard on the side of sentimental. Think Dream Academy however much a further guitar solo tries to drag it back. In fact, once the guitar and lap steel figure, the song transcends. Does this herald a drift back to the atmosphere of the first few tracks?

Well, yes and no as ‘The Admin Of Life’ is a slow acoustic swoon, picked guitar, lap steel and cello, other instrumentation muted. By itself, and as a standalone, it would raise more interest, getting a little lost in the prevailing mood. But the closer, ‘Princeton In The Distance’ jolts up the ante, with a reprise of the players gracing the title track. And whilst it is nothing as lively as that, there is sense they want to be. Everett has hung around for this too, her cello a rounded presence, particularly in the interplay with guitar, as it all fades.

I sense there are a few Neil Crossley’s inhabiting this record, and I like most of them. However, the dichotomy between indie crooner and americana troubadour is a tough act to balance, the join making for an uneasy overall experience. But it has many moments of pleasure, and I would like to see where Furlined go next. And which way.

Seuras Og 

Artist website: www.furlined.co.uk

Not the greatest bit of filming but this is the only recent video of Furlined that we could find: