2003
Track Listing:- Country Life
- Hard Shoulder
- Suntrap
- Smile she said
- Reynardine
- Seven days
- Tommy
- Be lucky
- Drake
- I promise you
- Adieu, sweet lovely Nancy
- Red diesel
- Don't be a stranger
Recorded at:
Riverside Studios, Exeter.
Other Show Of Hands album reviews on Spiral earth:
Country Life - album review
Show of Hands
West country duo of Steve Knightley and Phil Beer released Country Life in
2003 to critical acclaim, along with some uncomfortable fretting about
the political strength of the title track, a claws out rant about the
plight of rural Britain. Unfortunately the reality of country life is not
Range Rovers and Barbours but
"no trains, no jobs, no shops, no pubs" as Steve Knightley sings. Surely
the greatest and most enduring 'folk' songs are songs of protest or lament;
this is one of them.
Despite the contemporary theme of the title track and the photography on the CD's packaging there is only really one other song about contemporary rural life, the poignant Red Diesel about a bloke called Terry, the kind of guy that modern society doesn't really have much time for "Terry will hold the line... in uniform he's a hero, on the terraces he's scum" Knightley's mandocello and Beer's mandolin setting a foot tapping rhythm to the track.
The diversity of musical style, mood and pace on the album is always held in control; as an album it is totally cohesive - nothing unbalances it. Considering they have incorporated elements of Celtic, Spanish, South American, rock and blues they don't fall into the trap of creating 'world' music that isn't rooted to any real place or time. Their place is the West country and South West of England, their time is anytime they damn well like as Steve Knightley composes such intelligent, literate lyrics, the song Drake makes you feel as if you are standing at his side before plundering the Spanish Main, Hard Shoulder exposes the melancholy of a youthful love lost in the rain.
With these guys great musical ability, multi instrumentalism (not sure that's actually a word) and consistent high quality of songwriting it's unlikely they'll ever release a duff album, Country Life is one of their defining moments. It's a deceptively complex album, repeated listening reveals a musical and emotional depth that just picks you up and runs off with your imagination.
Iain Hazlewood