ALASTAIR SAVAGE & ALICE ALLEN
Where the Good Ship Lands

For various reasons, this semi-compilation appears at an interesting point in the Fine Lines journey. With personnel changes offering new depth to their sound, Bourbon Hymns rounds up the best of the best of their former glories, with selected tracks from their previous albums, accompanied by new tracks as a taste of things yet to come.

The 6-piece band hail from Cheshire and feature a male-female twin-vocal blend of folk, country and Americana, based around the leadership of David Boardman and songs largely co-written with Mark Radcliffe. Without ever appearing derivative, the songs celebrate a mixture of cross Atlantic influences, including the vocal blend of Fleetwood Mac, Dylan and The Band, the country rock of Gram Parsons, and the muscularity of Springsteen, along with a sprinkling of British indie-pop where the likes of Aztec Camera come to mind - and if that sounds classy, then you would be right.

For those who are new to the band, the tracks drawn from previous albums act as an engaging introduction to the band, highlighting all the qualities.

Opener, On The Town, sets an upbeat tone that continues through much of the album. Taken from ‘Gaslight Roses’, the second release it tells a lot about the band. Infectious to the point where only those vaccinated against good music will resist it, all that is good about Fine Lines is in there. Led by swirling keyboards into Boardman vocals, before the rest of the band kick in, building powerfully before giving way to some soaring violin. Contrast this with the following ‘Forget About You’, opening with a delicate guitar motif, leading in to vocal interplay between the aforementioned Mr Boardman and Zoe Booth, again the track builds with Emily Doggett’s fiddle taking much of the lead, which, along with Gary O’Brien’s organ adds interest and distinctiveness to much of what the band offers.

Del Rio adds another dimension, with pedal steel giving a truly country, Americana feel to a song that derives its inspiration from Torremolinos rather than its Texas namesake. Interest is also shifted as the vocal is female led, emphasising the strength of Ms Booth’s delivery.

To choose highlights across the album would suggest that there is a drop in quality elsewhere on the album, each song has much to recommend it, each distinctive but possessed of a unity across the album that gives Fine Lines their personality. That said, the guitar intro to Begging You deserves mention as the greatest Rolling Stones riff that Keith Richards should have written but never did!

The new songs on the album maintain both the quality and the flavour. 'Who's That Up There (With The Light On)' does change the pace and feel of much of the album but reflectiveness and melancholy can generate interest just as much as the toe-tappers that surround it. Lead single ‘This Little World’ offers a positive feel both lyrically and musically, celebrating a world that can provide interest and happiness in both universal and individual elements – though it is to be hoped that the band can be categorised as correspond to the former.

The album concludes with When The Wine You Love (Doesn’t Love You), a promise for the future of the band, featuring all the positives of the previous tracks with the added bonus of a different moment in the spotlight for David, shifting the emphasis from his voice to courtesy of a fine guitar solo.

Mentions too for Jim Broughton on bass and lyricist Mark Radcliffe fulfilling drumming duties, with the pair holding everything together while allowing the rest to shine.

Following the compilation of the album, personal and professional pressures have led Zoe to take her leave from the band whilst Mark is now concentrating on contributing through writing and presenting these and other collaborative songs in a duo with David, descriptively billed as Mark Radcliffe and David Boardman. Incoming are percussionist Emily Bailey and guitar/vocalist Helen Walford Insley, the latter adding another dimension to the band sound and possibilities. The future awaits.