THE FATE OF OLD MOTHER ORVIS

This was the first Future Kings of England album I purchased. When it came to choosing it was purely down to the fact that Dunwich is only 15 miles down the coast from me. I was fascinated by a band making a song about a place with so much history. A city now succumbed to the sea on a volatile coastline. For me the first track entitled "Dunwich" is beautiful. An ambient melodic psychedelic track which conjures images of waves crashing against cliffs as the sea nibbles away at the land. The tempo increases slowly although it never gathers much pace. The next track is the only one with vocals and I do like them, I found it strange not to hear more although the music never really needs them. The mustard men as well as vocals also has ample percussion and is perhaps my favourite track along with Dunwich. So does that mean the rest of the album is weaker? No "Bartholomews mermen" is another instrumental that builds throughout. This is music to get lost in . "Children of the crown" seems to start in a pub and starts with acoustic guitar. It is a track of two halves and really picks up with a real Pink Floyd feel. The track slows and becomes more melodic and is terrific. "A meeting at the red barn" is a short track. You hear walking across a field and an opening of a barn door and a soft instrumental track. Here the gulls are replaced by crows. This brings you to the last but not least title track. An 18 minute epic which starts quite slowly for the first 5 mins and very psychedelic.gradually guitars and drums increase and the tempo picks up. Not hard to see why other reviews mention post rock. So overall I think this is an album to loose yourself in, usually by the sea. I cannot say that the music is complex although it is very competent. It is a slow placed album that is full of atmosphere.