MITCHELL & VINCENT - The Preservation Of Fire
Private Label
These two have been making a name for themselves around the southern English folk scene as rock-solid musicians with a penchant for Irish tunes and songs from around these islands, and this CD will, I’m sure, be a good seller for them.
There’s a lot to like here; both are excellent musicians (and skilled luthiers, judging by the quality of the music their self-made instruments produce), and their choice of material is an interesting combination of traditional and more recently composed tunes in a traditional style. All are competently and sympathetically played, and at a pace that is never hurried. I can imagine they’d be excellent in a session when the Irish element has reached warp factor speeds, just to bring things back down to earth. This is not to say they aren’t capable of a good turn of speed, as is evidenced by their final six-part, 12-minute medley – a superb ending to the recording.
The songs are mainly well-known classics – April Morning, Hard Times Of Old England, As I Roved Out – with the exception of a self-penned Brexit song (it had to happen sometime), Oh Albion! Like the other songs, the delivery seemed a little tentative, and left me wishing that the singer would express a bit more emotion, ‘get inside the song’ a bit more. Nonetheless, an enjoyable listen.
www.mitchellandvincent.com
John Waltham
This review appeared in Issue 131 of The Living Tradition magazine