Chicago-born and Sheffield-based folk outlier Jon Boden has recently announced his fourth solo album, Rose In June, which is due for release November 1st on Hudson Records, and is now sharing the second single from the album, ‘Leviathan’. In support of the album, Boden will play six UK live dates, commencing at Bristol’s St George’s on November 20 and including London’s Union Chapel on November 21.
Rose In June, which follows 2017’s post-apocalyptic concept album Afterglow, sees Boden back in the studio with his trusted band, The Remnant Kings. He says of the album, recorded at the legendary Rockfield Studios:
“Since this band was debuted live at Cambridge Folk Festival on the main stage in 2016 we’ve been able to tour the UK and play many festivals in this bigger line-up so it felt very important to get into the studio and record lots of the stuff that is central to the live set, but has never been committed to tape.”
As such, live favourites have all been lovingly rendered here by producer and long-time collaborator, Andy Bell. Across twelve tracks, the new album is comprised of traditional songs (‘Rose In June’, ‘All Hang Down’, ‘Seven Bonnie Gypsies’, ‘Rigs of the Time’), alongside Boden’s own arrangements (‘Leviathan / Tombola’, ‘Going Down To The Wasteland’, ‘Ruin Reel’) and covers of Ewan MacColl (‘Sweet Thames Flow Softly’) and Kate Bush (‘Hounds of Love’).
Despite the many projects he’s been involved in, Jon Boden is no doubt best known as the lead singer and main arranger of Bellowhead. After twelve years, a quarter of a million album sales, seven singles on the Radio 2 playlist and selling out hundreds of venues throughout the land and beyond. Widely respected as an interpreter of traditional song, it’s been through his solo live shows where he’s truly been able to showcase his instrumental talents on fiddle, guitar and concertina, as well as his trademark ‘stomp box’ which he and John Spiers introduced into to the world of traditional music in 2001. Through his solo work and his work with Bellowhead and Spiers & Boden, Jon has won eleven BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
His most recent album Afterglow was released in October 2017 and continued Jon’s explorations of a post-oil world (a theme first explored on 2009’s Songs From The Floodplain), this time following the course of two lovers over the night of a fire-lit city carnival. The first single from the album ‘All The Stars Are Coming Out Tonight’ was playlisted on BBC Radio 2. The release was followed by the launch of the 11-piece Jon Boden & The Remnant Kings which toured the UK in autumn 2017 and spring 2018. Summer 2018 saw the big band in demand for major folk festivals including Wickham Festival, Beautiful Days, Snape Proms and Shrewsbury Folk Festival. 2019 saw Jon touring with the three string players from the band and performing in both the 6 piece and 11 piece versions of the Remnant Kings.
Following months on the road, Rose In June captures Boden’s inimitable folk storytelling backed by The Remnant Kings after they’ve been hardened by touring, the songs constantly evolving as they were performed by a rotating cast of members. The resulting album finds both Boden and band at the top of their game.
Artist’s website: http://www.jonboden.com/
‘Leviathan’:
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