Witness - single

Show Of Hands

There's been a lot of talk of the 'new' Show Of Hands sound, rumours that gained in strength with the news that production guru's Simon Emmerson and 'Mass' (known to his mother as Simon Massey), were lending their huge talent to their new album.

They've taken the unusual step of putting out a single prior to the albums release, the first time in ten years that they've done so. It's a clever step as it will be available on iTunes, and it's a gift to anyone who loved their cover of George Harrison's If I Needed Someone from the Beatles Rubber Soul album. They originally recorded it for the BBC Radio 2 40th anniversary celebration of that album.

Witness marks not so much a 'new' sound as an exciting development of all the things that make them such a unique proposition. Steve Knightley's economically erudite lyrics are as punchy as ever. Their combined musicianship and arrangements are stunning. Mass and Emmerson's ambitious yet sensitive production keeps all of the elements in their place, and there's a heck of a lot going on here. Seth Lakemans distinctive tenor guitar crops up, as do his backing vocals. Phil Beer's fiddle work underpins all the multiple layers of vocals that sweep through the piece.

The song is inspired by the inhabitants of a Devon commune, it's a trademark of his writing that the lyrics shed as much light on the outside world as they do on the subject in hand. As with Seth Lakeman, Devon and the South West is once again Knightleys muse, his work teasing out a tangible set of roots and tradition.

If I Needed Someone is their interpretation of George Harrison's song. It's as emotive and seductive as Zeppelins Kashmir, it's worth buying the single for this alone.

Iain Hazlewood