Tag: Rory Butler

Southern Tenant Folk Union’s seventh album was written and recorded in the political landscape brought about by last year’s general election and its title, Join Forces, is both a reflection on the position in which we find ourselves and a rallying cry to stand up to the forces ranked against us – the cover design is a powerful clue.

Musically, the album is rooted in the bluegrass of the band’s early work with some jolly poppy songs in the mix but in both cases the velvet glove conceals an iron fist. Chumbawamba would have been proud of this record. The opening track, ‘To The War’ is written by lead vocalist Rory Butler – banjo player Pat McGarvey writes most the material – and for all its fighting talk it is quite subtle and there is a lot to unpick in its three verses.

‘The Media Attack’ has no such pretensions and goes straight for the jugular. If you’re heartily sick of the mainstream news this is your song but even here there is sprightly fiddle from Katherine Stewart and a cheeky bass break from Craig MacFadyen. The title track was inspired by the EU referendum, particularly the racist outbreaks that followed, and is a call for unity. I don’t think STFU are Brexiteers, but being Scottish you wouldn’t expect them to be.

Three songs are titled with questions. The first, ‘Were You Faking When You Kissed Her?’, is aimed at the insincerity of the career politician while the other two are directed at we, the people. ‘What Would You Give For A Leader With Soul?’ has, I hope, been answered and ‘What Kind Of Worker Do You Want To Be?’ is a subtle take on ‘Which Side Are You On?’, reminding us that the war isn’t over yet. ‘My Grandfather’s Father’, which opens with delicate a cappella harmonies, is possibly my favourite song. It summarises the story and attitudes of four generations of a family; a rags to riches to rags story.

There is a traditional-sounding instrumental, ‘Islay Crossing Set’, and the final songs ‘Our Revolution It Will One Day Come’ and ‘Happy As We Both Can Be’ seem to counsel against impatience and anger which may be sage advice these days but the latter seems to contradict much of what has gone before – I’m not sure that I’m reading it correctly. That worry aside, Join Forces is a superb album to play on the barricades.

Dai Jeffries

Artists’ website: http://www.southerntenantfolkunion.com/

‘To The War’ – official video: