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REVIEW FROM www.livingtradition.co.uk

 


 

 

 
JON BICKLEY AND THE INVISIBLE FOLK CLUB BAND - Under The Same Sky 

JON BICKLEY AND THE INVISIBLE FOLK CLUB BAND - Under The Same Sky 
Invisible Folk INVISIBLEFOLKCD001 

Jon Bickley is a poet, folksinger, songwriter and radio and podcast producer from Buckinghamshire in the UK. He has released albums, published books of poetry and, more recently, co-hosted a regular podcast called the Invisible Folk Club, which features singers, dancers, writers and more. It provides a more extended (albeit invisible) folk club for these voices. In all these pursuits, he often works on historical material that is rooted in a local context.

This CD comes from music that Bickley wrote for a partnership with the Higgins Museum in Bedford to use in the soundtrack for a film on the region. The eight originals and three traditional pieces create an atmosphere that is quiet in tone and introspective in outlook. The arrangements are loose, with an impromptu feel to the recording (as opposed to a highly produced studio release). Four folks join Bickley as backup musicians and singers, though some of the instrumental additions occasionally distract rather than contribute.

Tracks such as Into The Woods include effective instrumental interplay, creating a mysterious palette that incorporates snippets of familiar tunes. Carrickfergus does a good job of channelling the melancholy of that old chestnut, and Call The Sun offers the languid, bluesy, late-night feel of a number of the songs. It all makes one want to see the film that these tracks were written to accompany.

www.jonbickley.com

Ivan Emke

 

This review appeared in Issue 137 of The Living Tradition magazine