SILENCE AND TEARS

With this 3rd release, GALLEY BEGGAR found themselves signed to "Rise Above Records", which sounds like a protest folk label but is actually skewed to doom metal and its ilk. While part of the improved exposure of "Silence and Tears" is simply due to the muscle of a major label, another effect is that every doom metal blogger in every man cave was asked to review this (gasp!) folk rock album. These assessments, some well written, others not, are a joy to read because they offer an outsider perspective. As a folk rock "insider", I relish the humility that comes with acknowledging that some reference points for the sound of GALLEY BEGGAR emanate from the 2010s and not 1968-1971! Two such examples are ARCADE FIRE and FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE.

I need to make reparations for ever saying that GALLEY BEGGAR was trending in the TREES direction with each release. I had another cursed listen to the primordial sludge fest that is "On the Shore", and, if any point of comparison is possible, it is in how GALLEY BEGGAR has deftly sidestepped the busy work that was TREES' stock in trade, and that they do cover that band's "Geordie" oh so much more succinctly, with the one lead guitar running circles around the feuding twins of that long ago release. Maria O'Donnell's voice is more emotive and dynamic than Celia Humphries', while every bit the technical equal.

All that said, and notwithstanding the shining fiddling of "Adam and Eve" which compensates for its shockingly misogynist lyrics, the sweetly uplifting MERLIN BIRD like "Sanctuary Song", and the stop-me-in-my-tracks beauty of MR FOX-like closer "Deliver Him", this is a downbeat affair that is not the better for it. Particularly the 9 minute "Pay my Body Home" is as moribund as the most bloated JETHRO TULL epic, and until GALLEY BEGGAR can deliver sadness with a smile - see the STEELEYE SPAN classics for the ultimate guide - they will remain just shy of the 4 star hump. Too bad, so sad.

Silence and Tears marks a quantum leap for Galley Beggar and in truth this their third album is the first one that prog fans and prog folk fans should consider adding to their collections. Everything is an improvement on their second effort - mixing, production values, song-writing, quality of vocals and most of all a greater tightness and focus in their approach. Their second album was an interesting but disjointed set of folk songs. Here they are reaching for greater things, still drawing on the influences of heroes of the great days of folk rock , Fairport, Steeleye and Pentangle but stamping their own mark. There is no weak song here and several standouts including a gorgeous version of Geordie, the poignant self -penned title track, the opener Adam & Eve, the haunting Empty Sky and the 9 minute long Pay My Body which references a Sailors Life slightly but is none the worse for that. Go check it out - you'll be surprised.