More on: Anthony Reynolds

Label: Hungry Hill
Release Date: 10/12/07
Rating:

In music, balance is essential when complexity is attempted. Anthony Reynolds' 'British Ballads' is a tricky structure of irksome crooning and whimsy at its foundations, while at its height 'British Ballads' is sinister, irregular, cynical, drifting, brilliant.

The first two tracks are push-overs. They are airy with slight, fanciful strums and simply clean piano strokes reminiscent of The Divine Comedy at their most elegiac (and dull). Reynolds' voice is a rich and smooth baritone that blends fantastically (if not prosaically) with the melodrama of strings arranged behind. At this point one wonders whether the constant comparisons between Reynolds and Scott Walker are warranted - all that seems to connect them is a baritone. But then 'Bread And Wine' begins with a whine of dying violins amidst atmospheric disturbance that carries toward a Bowie-like acoustic breakdown with triumphant horn dramatics. The lyrics grow up, too; the sweetness and innocence of the opening tracks is replaced with careful observations on alienation and modernity.

The romantic cocktail continues, with Vashti Bunyan lending her delicate voice to the darker, night-time mystery of 'Country Girl'. It is here, finally, you hear the tremendous influence of Scott Walker, with Reynolds' baritone narrating sadness and loss with velvet detachment and creepy rushes of loudness and silence. The song paces an abandoned city, kept warm against the harsh elements in a raincoat of warm guitar strums. From here on in, 'British Ballads' never refocuses on the original whimsical detritus of the opening tracks, instead brooding, sometimes savagely, through twilight tones and powerful vocal accelerations. There's even an atmospheric spoken-word piece ('The Hill') read by occult/science-fiction/philosophy author and spiritualist Colin Wilson, underpinned by Reynolds' instrumentation.

The amount of variety Reynolds exhibits throughout 'British Ballads' is an exercise in balance. He's amassed a suffocatingly large amount of ideas around his homegrown influences, managing to make the darker, more complex moments accessible through traditional fey cliches of British folk. It's not as easy as it sounds. Though it's easy listening, you may feel uneasy or dissatisfied after completing 'British Ballads', but it will only be because of how powerfully the music can manipulate your mood.

Daniel Good

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