Steeleye Span, Cogs, Wheels And Lovers (Park, 2009)
It doesn't seem so very long ago I was lending an ear to Steeleye Span's Live At A Distance collection, and now here we are with a brand new studio album from the folk rock veterans. You might expect a band of 40 years' standing to be pacing themselves a little more slowly by this stage but of course, there is no reason to slow down if the creativity and will is still extant and the muse is still striking.
The last studio offering, Bloody Men, was generally regarded as one of their best albums of recent times, so Cogs, Wheels And Lovers needed to be of high quality to compare favourably. From the opening track "Gallant Frigate Amphitrite", it is clear they are still in a creatively fertile period and certainly understand what folk rock is meant to be about.
The line-up of Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Ken Nicol, Rick Kemp and Liam Genockey has also become the longest lasting of Steeleye's career, which says much about the consistency of sound they have enjoyed over the last six years. Kemp seems to have taken his leave from the touring group but still appears on recordings.
Unsurprisingly, all traits one might expect from Steeleye Span are present and correct. The playing is superb and while it's unfair to single out some over others, it must be said Ken Nicol's guitar work as lead or supporting player is an essential ingredient of the current band. Likewise, when Peter Knight takes a violin solo on songs such as "Locks And Bolts" or the bonus track "The Great Silkie Of Sules Skerrie", it's possible to envisage the concentration on his face and his feeling every note because that's how it comes across to the listener.
The material itself has many of the trademark traditional themes - nautical ("Our Captain Cried"), mysterious ("The Unquiet Grave") and the like. Indeed, a cursory glance of the song titles reveals this to be a very traditionally based collection of songs. It's not immediately clear to what extent each track is trad or original or somewhere in between, and the booklet is no help in this regard either. Then again, when you hear for example this version of "Just As The Tide Was A-Flowing" - smooth and uplifting in its arrangement - it really doesn't matter so much where it came from; it's just great music.
I suspect "Madam Will You Walk" is a composite piece, based on the familiar theme of loving someone for their money. Its lyrical structure of developing the story slowly with just a couple of different lines in each verse is also a technique that has been used over the years ("Edward" from Back In Line comes to mind). It is one of several tracks that could be classified as ear worms, those catchy tunes that infiltrate one's mind and keep reappearing at unexpected moments.
In fact, I'm reminded of the story when Steeleye Span were meeting the Queen in the mid 1970s after a performance, and the royal quote was "Such jolly tunes!" While tracks such as "Madam..." and "Creeping Jane" do fulfil that quota on this CD, they are also great examples of folk rock. Likewise, "The Machiner's Song" could be described as merry but the arrangement, including the sound of machinery stopping and starting, keeps it from falling into "twee" territory.
A summary, then. Cogs, Wheels And Lovers contains a lot of beauty and a lot of fun and shows that age is no barrier to making good music, as if that isn't stating the obvious! Sure, the vocals might be in a different register and of a somewhat different timbre than in earlier years but the music works its way around that, and the harmonies are still a significant trademark. The packaging is excellent with all lyrics included, but oddly there are no band photographs or writing credits; not all instruments are listed either.
The malaise I found in recent live recordings is not in evidence here, so make of that what you will. In fact, I would contend that you could put this recording against those of any period in Steeleye Span's long career, and the comparison would be invariably favourable. You could read that as meaning it is one of the band's best works, or that they have a pretty impressive body of work to compare it with. It makes sense either way.
Cogs, Wheels And Lovers is available from Park Records' Web site
