However much it seems to be belittled and/ or ignored by the wider press in the UK, the British roots scene remains healthy in this writer's opinion. After all, how else do you explain quality albums by artists as rich and diverse as Quiet Loner, The Have Nots, Michael Weston King, Grand Drive, Redlands Palomino Co. and more in recent times?
And to this relatively small, but determined list we should surely add Nottingham's MAGIC CAR. This writer sadly missed out on MC's critically-acclaimed debut "Yellow Main Sequence" in 2003, but if it's anywhere in the ballpark of its' long-awaited follow-up "Family Matters" then some rapid backtracking may well be the order of the day.
But first some background. Magic Car are based around the vivid, emotional songwriting of vocalist/ guitarist Phil Smeeton. Hazel Atkinson provides the superb, emotive female vocal counterpoint as well as some expressive mandolin. Bassist John Thompson handles both stand-up and four-string electric with some aplomb and Dave Langdon more than lives up to his rep as one of the UK'S finest pedal steel players. In fact, in this hack's opinion he's right up there with Alan Cook, no less.
Together with some hugely talented friends such as drummer Stevie Otter and Steeleye Span stalwart Rick Kemp they have crafted "Family Matters": an album rooted in gravitas, poise and resonance which should more than satisfy the discerning roots-rock head.
The poignant "The Biker's Lament" is a hell of a way to get underway. Slow and ballad-like in atmosphere, it features, drifting plains harmonica, mandolin and Hazel Atkinson's beautiful, Linda Thompson-style vocals and it's impossible to ignore the terminal sadness of lines like "You took the bend at 110, though the police said only 92/ There's a scar on the tarmac and a scar in my heart for you." It's great, descriptive stuff and perhaps Smeeton's very own "Vincent Black Lightning 1952."
Atkinson's vocals again shine and give a sassy emphasis to the woody, acoustic sound of the ensuing "Seventeen", while Langdon's pedal steel adds a Hawaiian/ Sneeky Pete feel you don't hear coming previously. Smeeton, meanwhile, gets into the vocal act on songs like "Terrible Thing", "Gold Wing Queen" and the title track and these all demonstrate the musical diversity at Magic Car's disposal. "Terrible Thing" features jazzy-going-on-ragtime piano as well as trumpet and trombone as well as some wry observations from the Smeeton pen (e.g: "And he looked like a prince with his primitive rinse and permenent grin"); "Gold Wing Queen" could almost be a pillion-ride sequel to "The Biker's Lament" with some deft Dylan-by-way-of-Michael Weston King lyrics and the deceptively frail "Family Matters" itself finds Smeeton and Atkinson joining forces for a chorus ("Hold on the one you love/ Never let them get away or fade away") that we should all take to heart.
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So you're already smitten long before the end, but they arguably save the best for last with "Always So"; an exquisite piano ballad starring Hazel, subtle double bass and swoons of pedal steel. It's world-weary and hugely dignified and a great way to go by anyone's standards.
Magic Car, then, are a real find, and a boon to anyone who still reveres the importance of a well-written song performed with feeling and class. "Family Matters" suggests something insular and personal, but while Phil Smeeton surely writes from his heart first, his and his colleagues' emotional dirty washing deserves to be aired in a much larger public space.
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