Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Birmingham’s music scene has always been a vibrant beast, whether it was in the glorious heyday of bands such as The Moody Blues, Wizzard, E.L.O. through the 80s and 90s, and beyond revival which saw diversity lead through application and desire from bands such as Dexys Midnight Runners, Napalm Death, The Twang, and Ocean Colour Scene, prove with absolute conviction that there has always been a magnetic sense of groove and wit, coupled with wonderfully adhered to belief in light-hearted cynicism that has been the bedrock of expression in the former heartlands of the home of British Industry’s revolution.

Thorpe and Morrison’s name may not be completely immersed in the mindset of those to whom Selly Park, Stirchley, Bourneville, or Yardley readily think of themselves as the keepers of the larger city’s history, and whilst the new album was recorded in Bristol, its heart in its formation has Birmingham’s folk written through it as clear as seeing The Rotunda appear from out of the gloom after a heavy, dense fog.

It is in the generosity of performance that the folk album, Grass & Granite takes its strength from, and whilst in parts harking back to a time of Scottish roots and homecomings, Sean Morrison, Harry Thorpe, along with the joined forces of The Drystones Alex Garden and Michelle Holloway of the Bonfire Radicals, there is an element that gives a thought, a confidence of serendipity from a chance meeting in the second city that makes the music feel as though it is the babbling waters of the Rae running through the built up nature of the green parks and the old heavy industry turned collective nightspot paradise given its own song; full of Celtic wonder, but wrapped up in the beauty of Birmingham’s past and future.

The exploration of where exactly home is which can be felt through the vocal less arrangements, the longing of putting down roots for more than a short period, of needing both nature and the stable feel of population surrounding your own heart beat that gives serenity to tracks such as Merlin The Wolfhound, The Girl I Left Behind Me, Claudette’s Last Dance, Coast To Coast, and the superb instincts that inhabit Put The Gown Upon The Bishop, what is evident is that the foursome together have produced something quite delicious, as satisfying as life can be when placed in your hands and the fortunes of fate.

An album from Thorpe and Morrison that maintains elegant high standards in its togetherness and application; a recording of spirit and pleasure that reads the memories and offers glimpses into a world of belonging anywhere you can call home.

Ian D. Hall