Time Ashore sounds like a set of songs chosen because Kirsty Bromley enjoys singing them which is possibly the very best reason. It’s some something an artist can do on their debut album and again at a stage in their career when they can afford to be self-indulgent. After two EPs this is Kirsty’s full length debut.
Kirsty mixes contemporary and traditional songs in a style that takes on a sixties feel for a while. ‘Eat Drink & Be Jolly’, with an additional verse by Paul Davenport, is a first cousin of ‘Spencer The Rover’ and ‘Sweet Nightingale’ is performed quite straight. Any song from The Broadside immediately takes me back almost fifty years and Bill Meek’s ‘Time Ashore’ does exactly that. ‘Twas On One April Morning’ uses Tony Rose’s setting and brings on another wave of nostalgia.
Later in the set, Kirsty includes a couple more covers but not obvious ones and it’s illuminating that they easily fall into the styles of traditional song. Paul Metsers’ ‘One More Time’ morphs into a shanty – inevitable with such a title I suppose – with the effect amplified by Simon Dumpleton’s accordion and Randy Sparks’ ‘Today’ sounds completely English with the finishing flourish of Kirsty’s trumpet. Later still, she gives us a traditional Maori chant and a version of ‘The Circle Game’, a song which would surely be long forgotten had it not been written by Joni Mitchell. It does have a certain strange appeal, though.
This is a strong debut album – plenty of variety and good ideas but nothing too outré. It’s the starting point of a major career.
Dai Jeffries
Artist’s website: Bandcamp
‘Sweet Nightingale’ live at Leeds College of Music:
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