Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
They urge you to take the road less travelled, that the one that everybody uses is worn out, the feet that scuff and kick up the dust because all and sundry have gone that way before and yet the one less explored can also seem stale, everybody knows it is there, you can see the edges of the overgrown bushes and the webs that have been weaved in comfort, undisturbed, busy, never ending. What is perhaps required is one which takes you to a place of magic, the approach to an open mind, to a parade of colour and a carnival of folk mystique, The Road To Horn Fair is one such walk of life to stroll smiling towards.
All the fun of the fair but without having to gauged or fleeced, for the owner of this particular set of musical rides certainly has the listener’s best interest at heart; Joshua Burnell and the band have realised that there is always a third road in which to travel, the one in which comes between the two points planned out, it is not so much the road less travelled, but it is the one that makes the most sense.
Recorded between his debut of Into The Green and before the commencement of the Seasons Project, the route and the roots of The Road To Horn Fair had their beginnings in 2015 and like all good paradoxes, the album gains significantly from those two roads either side, having learned the route, the fair in the distance offered a different perspective, one that is homely, steeped in the traditional, and yet enticingly revolutionary.
It is realistic to offer praise from the very start of the album, the creativity unleashed in the appreciation of Folk arrangements in songs such as the opener Pastime With Good Company, Berkshire Tragedy, Plane Tree & Tenpenny Bit, The Knight And The Shepherdess and Ah! Robin, Gentyl Robin all combine as if the fair was so well planned that each side show naturally led on to the next. There is no sense of just having pitched up a tent in the middle of nowhere and expecting crowds to flock on mass; this is considered, the lights drawing you in, and the sense of wonder keeping you entertained beyond what you might expect.
A beautiful set of songs, a road you might not have been expecting to find, but one nonetheless that is gloriously accepted and time-honoured.
Joshua Burnell releases The Road To Horn Fair on February 15th via Proper Distribution.
Ian D. Hall