Mark Fry is a man whose music comes with a lovely back story. He is most well known for his 1972 psych-folk debut ‘Dreaming With Alice’. That record became highly sought after and much touted due to a limited release and its apparent excellence. Mark was blissfully unaware of this and turned instead to painting and travelling. A lifetime later when he discovered his first record was changing hands for thousands of pounds and being name checked left, right and centre, his music career started off again. Call it a second coming.
Time will tell if this is another Mark Fry masterpiece but it is an understated gem. It seems in large parts to be inspired by flight, or thoughts of flight? His voice is not spectacular and yet impossible to forget. His guitar playing is not at all showy and yet supremely suited to the songs. I can’t help thinking of Ralph McTell in both respects and I apologise if that causes offence to people in either camp. Mark shifts to electric on some tracks such as ‘Fall Like A Stone’ and the effect is mesmerizing. A great team of musicians have been put together for this recording. It is really an ensemble piece and the use of strings, piano and French horn gives it a ‘chamber-like’ tone. It is not all about the singer songwriter and that is a good thing for the listener.
|
In combination with the voice the lyrics give each song a genuine innocence, something that would be truly awful and mawkish were it in any way faked and that in itself is no mean feat after forty years. “The night has nothing left to lose/There is no one about/Not even a trace of a moon/It’s down and out” (Long Way Down). Actually it seems a little unfair to pick out individual songs for special attention as I feel this should be listened to as an album. Why make one otherwise? And so I will simply say this. Putting this record on is akin to standing on a bridge, throwing a stone in the lake and watching the ripples radiate.
|
