CLEMENTINE LOVELL
Westbound
Drawn in by the promise of a voice combining the delights of both Joan Baez and Emmylou Harris, the initial listen yielded the surprise of a vocal more reminiscent of English greats of the calibre of Sandy Denny and further exploration did nothing to undo the early promise. Filled with eight self-penned songs and combined with two arrangements of traditional offerings, which, given the presence of Marion Fleetwood on both production and musical duties, the introduction of the TradArr elements make even more sense. (If you know…)
Although the voice is the compelling feature of the collection, it is instrumentally supported, not only by her own accordion, but also by a mightily impressive ensemble of characters. In addition to percussionist Carmen Ruiz Vicente and fiddle player Duncan Menzies from Clementine’s own trio, the host of guest artists includes Robbie K. Jones (Track Dogs), Tom Leary (Feast of Fiddles) and Ric Sanders (Fairport Convention).
Held together by the almost omnipresence of voice and accordion, the songs themselves provide a range of subjects, tones, tempos and emotions, the stories within them range from the apparently introspective and personal, to tales of travel and tragedy. The copious liner notes also help take us across time and place on journeys with people and to places, dark interiors and wide open spaces, that are in turn both mysterious and familiar, but never short of compelling, along with lyrics that can raise a smile as well as bring a tear or two.
In a year that has already given us some fine female voiced albums from the likes of Daria Kulesh, Odette Michell and Jenn Butterworth, you don’t need the telescope of her grandfather, astronomer Sir Bernard Lovell, to spot some star quality, but you could make it your mission to explore ‘Westbound’ – you will enjoy the discovery.
