Darren Hayman - Thankful Villages Vol 2

The Guardian 80

(Rivertones)

Great ideas do not always make great records. Thankful Villages is a tremendous undertaking: visiting all 54 English and Welsh villages that lost no soldiers in the first world war. Part musical album, part snapshot of rural life, volume 2 hits places such as Flixborough in Lincolnshire, where a factory explosion in 1974 killed everyone inside, but the village outside was spared. The oral histories are riveting. The problem lies in Darren Hayman’s handling of the music. The veteran indie musician cannot ditch his knock-kneed approach, honed over 15 solo albums and four in Hefner. Folk, like rural life, can be red in tooth and claw; Hayman’s pastel jingle-jangles ill serve his rich sources.

Sun May 28 07:00:03 GMT 2017

The Guardian 60

(Rivertones)

If folk music is meant to pass on stories that have shaped and haunted communities, then Darren Hayman’s Thankful Villages records are their delicate cousins. The former Hefner frontman has been making esoteric solo concept albums for years, but this ongoing project sees him visit every British village where all first world war soldiers returned alive, painting an intriguing picture of modern-day rural life. Its moods are wide. There are strains of folk tunes on Tellisford, retro-by-numbers electronica on Cundall and Woolley, and more conventional songs, which come alive with guest vocals: Fairport Convention’s Judy Dyble sings about echoes of children’s laughter in the water on Upper Slaughter. The darker, more mysterious pieces work best. Drones and drizzling atmospheres overwhelm Nether Kellett, while tracks featuring interviews with locals reap rich rewards. Cromwell’s the best, a man opening the track with a voice rattling like gravel: “I’m Dennis, but they all call me Bill.”

Thu May 18 17:45:33 GMT 2017