the cover from August 2006

cover from March to July 2006

Freedom Fields

Seth Lakeman

The third album from the 21st Century boy who re-invigorated the folk scene by injecting a huge dose of attitude and raw passion. The Seth Lakeman 'sound' is a polished thing by now, and a popular one with the punters and artists alike as he crops up as a collaborator with many other artists.

So how does Freedom Fields contribute to the incredibly talented, good looking and all round nice guy's CV? Put simply it cements his position as one of the best songwriters on the current music scene. And I mean the whole music scene, not just an arbitrary folk, roots or acoustic delineation.

He has the knack of encapsulating tales that Thomas Hardy would be envious of within a punchy, gutsy delivery. If Kitty Jay was his Tess of the D'Urbevilles laden with tragedy and loss, then Freedom Fields is more akin to far From The Madding Crowd. It has loss and longing yet there is a more joyous ambience to the whole affair.

Staying with the Hardy analogy; he celebrated the rural and how it was affected by the world of urbanised morals and 'progress'. Lakeman stays rooted firmly in the South West and celebrates the land, its people and its soul. Like Hardy his is a world viewed through a lens that lends it a mythic quality. Childe The Hunter is the tale of Ordulf, an 11th Century Anglo Saxon Earl of Devon. Lady Of The Sea and The White Hare deal with the sea and land in romantic, mythic terms.

What does it sound like then? Although Lakeman has stayed with subject matter that he has a great natural affinity for, he hasn't been afraid to experiment with the way he expresses it musically. His trademark violin and tenor guitar are there but there is more variety in the arrangements. Vocally he's as strong as ever, his sound is expanded with greater backing vocals and multi tracking. The Charmer and The Colliers have the attitude and power of Kitty Jay without plagiarising its popularity.

Freedom Fields is a superb piece of work, probably his most rounded album so far.

Update...
Recently re-issued and re-launched after just six months on release to tie in with his 5 album deal with EMI. Adding different mixes of two tracks and an extra track, along with all new packaging. Although not billed as a special edition in any way, this must be the quickest re-launch of any folk album. The remixed tracks are The White Hare and Lady of the Sea, both the single versions previously released. The extra track is Send Yourself Away, a laid back track of Seth accompanied by guitar.

Iain Hazlewood