ALBUM
FAIRPORT CONVENTION
ROADWORKS
Matty Grooves
There have been a lot of Fairport Convention live albums and rightly so because as any fan will tell you, on the stage, is where they are at their best. This latest offering is taken from four shows on their 2025 winter tour and once again, the sheer beauty of the performances, makes this an essential addition to the Fairport catalogue. Quite how they keep doing this I’ll never know but we are all glad they do.
They have a lot of material to select from - thirty studio albums to date. Over the years, they have pretty much played everything and songs, as you would imagine, are often dropped in favour of new material. Not so with Fairport Convention who have always recalled songs to the set that fit with the occasion. There’s a welcome return of ‘Banbury Fair’ which prior to their 2024 tour, was last performed live in 2006 as well as ‘Instrumental Medley ’85 whose last outing was around the same time. They, along with old favourites, ‘Fotheringay’ and ‘The Hexhamshire Lass’ blend well the newest, ‘Moses Waits’ to form a very coherent record.
Opening with the opening track of their 2004 album, Over the Next Hill, the crystal-clear voice of Chris Leslie instantly captivates you and transports you into the world of an old-time mariner who is telling of his travels on the high-seas. Then we are off to Ireland for ‘Claudy Banks’ which is followed by Ric Sanders’ gorgeous instrumental, ‘The Rose Hip’. It is one of Fairport’s greatest strengths that their arrangements can place you somewhere you’ve never been before and yet is so familiar to you. Case in point: Their delivery of Ralph McTell’s ‘The Hiring Fair’ is sublime. I’ve never been to Hiring Fair in my life, (I suspect none of you reading this have), but I know exactly what one is like and the kind of people there because vocally, their expression describes it so well. They are, master storytellers.
Instrumentally, they are flawless but not to the point of sterile; vocally, they are simply marvellous. The two tracks from “Babbacombe” Lee combined towards the end of the album highlight this. ‘The Cell Song’ is a wistful lament you are snapped out of by ‘The Hanging Song’. The final track, ‘Sloth’, has appeared sporadically over the years in their show since it was first written and recorded by Fairport co-founder Richard Thompson back in 1970. It’s a beautiful, slow coda, to end both their set and this album.
Open your windows, let the sunshine in and feel spring arriving. The Fairport Cropredy Convention is on its way and with this album playing, you’re halfway there.
Track List
I’m Already There
Claudy Banks
The Rose Hip
Rising For The Moon
Fotheringay
The Hexhamshire Lass
The Hiring Fair
Instrumental Medley ’85
Moses Waits
Banbury Fair
The Wood and The Wire
The Cell Song
The Hanging Song
Sloth
ALBUM
CLAIRE HAMILL BAND
A HOUSE AMONG THE TREES
Self release
Never mind the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, surviving fifty-five years in the music business without making the big time deserves its own award in my opinion but alas, awards always seem to go the wrong way these days. No big shiny statue for the mantlepiece then but the fact that Claire has enjoyed her career, chopping and changing genres at will, brings its own reward. A consistently good songwriter, one thing you can always rely on is that when a new Claire Hamill album is announced, there will be something on it you’ve never heard from the lady before.
Bong bong bong bong bong bong bong bong is certainly not your average lyric but Claire is not your average lyric writer. Those first eight words sung on the opening track look nothing written down here but they lead into a beautiful song called…well, ‘The Beautiful’. It’s warm and comfortable, soothing, relaxing but as the press release says, the album “…has many rooms, all with a different story..” Yeah, no kidding because just as your armchair seems to be moulding around your back and lower regions, enter the second song and the Rock-Claire who throws a descending chord structure at you with an ascending melody line that is right out of the seventies. In fact, if we still had the old seventies music business, this would have been a Top 10 single – guaranteed. ‘Intoxicating’ is Rock ‘n’ Roll belter, ‘Cool’ is one of those songs that will see people slip out onto the dance floor whilst ‘All We Have is Now’ will hit you with both a smile and melancholy, as you remember an opportunity for love you once missed.
Innocence, seduction, charm and danger are the right words again from the press release and Claire’s found her ideal band to convey every emotion. The same as she put together on her previous album, 2025’s Troubadour, what Sean Elliott on guitar, John Nicholls on bass and Sonny Flint on drums understand is Claire herself and how to get the most out of her compositions. These guys can handle everything Claire throws at them with aplomb and have all moved up a gear on this album; Sonny’s dual role, as producer and drummer, only serves to gel them more. Claire’s worked with some of the music greats (Mark Abrahams and David Knopfler make guest appearances on this one) but she’s never had an ensemble as good as this.
An album is a collection of songs but this is more than an album; it’s a chapter in Claire’s life, a set of stories that reflect where she is now and you know what? She’s in a very good place.
Track List
The Beautiful
It’s Really You
My Snakeskin Lover
The Werewolf and the Maiden
Wings of Freedom
Intoxicating
Up to the Moon
Obsession
Cool
Your Name is in the Wind
Don’t Go Home Without Me
All We Have is Now