Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Music is arguably never finer than when it conveys a story with strength of will and sheer abundance of spirit. When it throws a great tune into the mix, it positively roars with delight and somehow has the power to even start the day off on a brighter, less sepia induced tone. It begs the question of how much nicer the world would seem first thing in the morning, even if hailstones the size of golf balls were bouncing off the ground in rapid, quick fire succession, if the vast majority of people put on a record before going out to work rather than worrying that the bloated market is down a couple of points.
The stirring of the spirit that this invokes is captured wholeheartedly by The Foxglove Trio in their debut album These Gathered Branches. An album that sweeps the dust from the eyes, puts a spring in your step before leaving the house and yet manages to make you think about the tales being sang, the stories that we all share in our D.N.A., that surely is the benchmark to aspire to, not to dig an early grave and fret about the daily grind.
These Gathered Branches soars, winds and ascends, it lifts you up to an unimaginable place and then as with all greats songs drops the bombshell of what the song is truly asking you to seek and the determination to keep the high going is one that lives through every poetic and dramatic note and voice of reason employed by Ffion Mair, Cathy Mason and Patrick Dean.
The heady mixture of Welsh balladeer and Yorkshire sensibilities combine in a way that asks so much of the listener and yet returns more than is capable of being heard in just one sitting. These Gathered Branches is one of those albums that it becomes impossible to tire of and for that alone shows how much thought has gone into recording it.
Tracks such as The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield, the despair and thrilling nature of James Snooks, the splendour of The Three Huntsmen, the genuine touch of the delicate in Colli Llanwddyn and Lliw Gwyn Rhosyn yr Haf and the storming The Owlesbury Lads all grab the listener and ask only that they be taken for what they are, social commentary, old folk tales wrapped in affection but with the kick of a great tune straddling alongside.
A genuinely excellent piece of art, full of mischief and murmur, of striking a blow against the reign of beige, a congregation of soul enthusing songs; The Foxglove Trio have more than made their mark on 2015.
Ian D. Hall