Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The poet who can grab the attention of the cynical and brow beaten is worth celebrating, when they play a song full of tranquil solitude, of observation in its purest and most delightful form, then their value is such that the world, even in the grimmest of reflections, offers a ray of light, the sparkling jewel of recognition that you are not alone in your thoughts.
In Pete Morton’s second release for the label Fellside Records, the excellent The Land Of Time, the sense of history is passed down and shared with complete honesty, a gift from the ages that the attentive lyric writer cannot help but capture and pin down. Whether in the form of a personal family saga that resonates the fortune of war, or the quiet, almost melancholic tangibility that sees the modern day excess boil over into the world of greed and want for the material good that we can live without, Pete Morton covers it all in an album that is gracious and wholesome.
The folk lyric writer might not see the poetry that flows between instrument of choice and the words so carefully placed but they certainly feel it, they understand that the world is as ashamed of its history as it requires the power of rejoicing and throughout The Land Of Time, rejoicing is what is on offer, sometimes dark, others the light shines brighter than the lamp swinging in the wild winds of a welcoming tavern during a thunder storm, rejoicing though nonetheless.
Aiding Pete Morton in the close quarter observations is Jon Brindley, Chris Parkinson, Ciaran Algar, James Budden and Linda Adams, a group placed together with the deftness of touch that resides in many but too few actually seem to hear the call without it becoming a manner of ego trip, a trip into a void in which recovery is not possible, no matter how entertaining the album.
From start to finish the album is one that really captures the imagination and whilst in some cases it would be difficult to choose the stand out tracks that make the recording such a beast of beauty to hear, songs such as the opener The Herefordshire Pilgrim, the superb subtle rant in Poverty Frap, the exceptional One Hundred Years Ago, the pace driven Old Boston Town and the simple but compelling Lucky all call out to the listener with a song in their hearts and a smile on the face of Time.
An album that exudes confidence, that maintains sincere feeling and one shrouded in the warmth of beauty, The Land Of Time is not just a recording, it is collection of poems that could rival a laureate’s time spent at the quill.
Ian D. Hall