One of the problems of living on the other side of the world is, well, it’s on the other side of the world. It is really easy to lose track of what is going on in the music world, and consequently I was dismayed to discover that Show of Hands had release some studio albums since I last reviewed ‘Witness’. On the plus side, I now had three new SoH albums to listen to all at once! I attempted to be organised for once, and listened to the three albums in release order, starting with 2009’s ‘AI&G’. For those who been living with several species of small furry animals gathered together in a cave and grooving with a pict since 1991, then SoH are two folkies who must have played every dive and hovel in the country as well as most of the cathedrals and of course the Royal Albert Hall. Steve Knightley (lead vocals, guitars, lutes, songs) and Phil Beer (fiddle, mandolin, vocals) are sometimes joined by Miranda Sykes on double bass and vocals, and such is the case with this lovely looking digipak.
The album commences with a traditional song, “Lowlands”, with Steve starting with an unaccompanied vocal, until he is joined firstly by Phil on harmonies and then Miranda. Apart from a low drone from the double bass at one point, this is music as pure as can be, namely just voices. It is an incredibly powerful introduction, and one that really sets the listener up for the rest. To prove that Steve has moved folk into the modern day, we have a song about IED’s (“IED: Science or Nature”), but for me the highlight must be the title cut. It is a song about the avarice of bankers and the financial crisis, and this is one of the times when they expand the line-up to bring in Andy Green on drums, Matt Clifford on keyboards and Hammond B3 and Stu Hanna (who also produced the album) on additional guitar. It needs the power of a fuller band behind it to really get the anger through. Contrast that with the very next song, “Down By The Railway Siding” where Phil takes the lead, and it is back to just the three of them. This ballad makes the previous number seem ever more powerful.
Show of Hands are a very special band indeed, and there is just no excuse if you live in England for not seeing these amazing musicians in concert as they seem to live on the road, and if they’re not touring as SoH then Phil or Steve can also often be found performing as a solo act. These guys are travelling folk troubadours, plying their wares as musicians just as others have for hundreds of years. A superb album.
