Mercury Prize nominated folk singer, conservationist, song collector and activist Sam Lee releases his fourth album `songdreaming` this month which follows on from his last album `Old Wow`. He characterises the album as “a mosaic of the emotions felt in my time outdoors, that artistically emerge in reflective moments when I’m permitted to recount and articulate the complexity of all I witness and thus feel responsible for.”
He shared that “I wanted to sing a vision of what a conversation between us and the land could be, to restore and inspire a practice of songful immersion in nature that brings with it healing, something we need now more than ever.” Sam was a wilderness survival expert prior to becoming a folk singer.
The album opens with the reflective `Bushes and Briars` a song that details Sam’s rage at the treatment and condition of the natural world. It had to me a quietly understated afrobeat intro with tinkling keys and strings guiding us along which allowed the singer`s ire to be subtly shared. I found that `Meeting Is A Pleasant Place` had an overwhelming emotional beauty. A track that is introspective with thoughts on nature, life and love. The transgender choir, Trans Voices really added a poignancy to this song with their collective vocal outpouring.
`McCrimmon` is somewhat stripped back with vocals sharing a contemplative absorbed representation over gentle keys, percussion and chordophone chords. I experienced an almost spiritual or divine depth or intelligence to `Leaves of Life` which possessed a slightly edgy sense about it.
`Green Mossy Banks` has an old time traditional storytelling narrative come folk ambience and is wonderfully pictorial. There`s a further alluring and enticing submission with `Aye Walking Oh` which has a Celtic flavour as it evolves and develops with woodwind instrumentation that allows a mournful reverie.
`Dreams of the Returning` uses a river and its source as maybe a metaphor for something more undefined with its fluvial and thalassic traces. Maybe the significance is found within the spiritual meaning of water which lies in its reflection of the human spirit and the interconnection of all creations. Water is a representation of wisdom, peace, and purity and this number seems to ebb and flow as it winds its way along its journey or path. We have a fairly forlorn tale with `Black Dog and Sheep Crook` which unveils a story of a planned wedding which never happened as one participant aimed to better themselves prior to a lifetime commitment, then seemed to be hypnotised by their new life. The jilted party being somebody who was tied to the land. The accompanying arrangement increases the melancholy of this composition.
This release closes out with the ballad like `Sweet Girl McRee` which appears to be a song of reminiscence of perhaps a lost adolescent love in the West Coast of Ireland.
Sam Lee`s `songdreaming` is a kind of love letter to Mother Earth, creation and the land we inhabit. A thoughtful and reflective devotion to the planet we occupy and abuse. His love and admiration for nature and the earth we dwell upon is clear and almost tangible.
A kind of subtle environmental plea through music and words which is emotionally life affirming.
Rating 9/10
