Johnny Flynn – Been Listening
At my very most cynical I look at all the posh, affable boys and girls making alternative folk music in London these days and I wonder just how absolutely compelled they are to do it. Is it just a social thing that they happen to do because they have talent and they can afford it, or are they genuinely driven to make music? I suppose this is a natural speculation of someone who spends a lot of time around musicians with barely a penny to their name and no backup plan, but it really is somewhat spiteful and entirely without basis in any more than suspicion of posh accents. Oh the hypocrisy.
For someone who made a significant impact with his debut album A Larum I think I half expected Flynn (again, for absolutely no apparent reason) to rest on his laurels, maybe add a bit more orchestration and serve us another helping of broadly the same thing. You’re going to laugh when I say that every time I’ve seen him on stage he’s come across as a really nice guy – I don’t know where I ended up with this oddly uncharitable opinion of the guy, I promise it wasn’t deliberate, and I do know I’m talking shit, honestly.
Anyhow, this album has ended up being one not so much that I love dearly just yet, but that has triggered a lot of admiration. There’s all sorts going on here, from borderline calypso* rhythms (no, honestly, come back!) on the likes of Churlish May, to the electric guitar lead of the title track, and all sorts of brass all over the place.
It’s not that Flynn hasn’t thrown everything at the album now he is established enough to demand such things, it’s more that he’s been remarkably disciplined in his use of the ideas he seems to be bursting with. That guitar makes only one appearance of such prominence, for example, although it is there through most of the album. I did think he was going to overuse the orchestral stuff too, particularly the brass, but just as the album seems to be getting a bit Carmen Miranda on us, the beautifully empty acoustic duet The Water appears to turn things on their head.
Following tracks Howl and Agnes are rougher and louder, but their arrangements are still remarkably plain for an album which has been extremely elaborate for most of its first two thirds, and then Amazon Love is beautifully downbeat once again. There’s such a lot here that I am still absorbing it, to be honest. I remember first hearing teaser track Kentucky Pill and finding it all so much that I was initially rather put off, but after repeated listens I find myself really liking it.
I get the impression that the similarly busy parts of the album will be this way as well – that it will take a little time for it all to sink in. Been Listening is an album absolutely packed full of ideas though, and for all it has been extremely well-managed considering the sheer amount of stuff to be crammed in, I think it’s going to take me a little while longer to entirely absorb this record. And I like that.
Johnny Flynn – Barnacled Warship
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*I’ve pulled this particular ‘style’ out of my arse, sorry, but I don’t really know quite what I’m listening to here. It seems to cross between English folk and a more laid back Caribbean vibe, and only ever in the vaguest of suggestions too, because it’s far from explicit. Maybe it’s the percussion which does it.
I’ve only heard it once so far and I’m slightly surprised to find that I think I like it less than you, which I really didn’t expect, because I’m a ridiculous fanatic about the first album and his old demos.
The songs themselves are pretty wonderful and diverse, but I can’t help but feel that there’s very little cohesion there. Maybe I need another listen but so far it sounds like a group of tracks, not an album.
Oh and I did exactly the same thing as you with Churlish May, but I said Bossa Nova.
i want to lick his face.
Joe – maybe it’s hard to keep something like this together. As you say, there’s a lot going on here, and the arrangements are pretty varied, but you’re right about the cohesion of the album as a whole.
Halina – erm, thanks. That’s nice.
having heard the tracks posted im wondering if maybe “the artist has run out of paint” as he so put it in his lyrics of the water. I mean no offense what so ever, and i think hes a fine musician but maybe i was expecting too much? aside from wondering what could have been i do enjoy these tracks
You don’t sound all that impressed though! Are you a fan of the first album?
I am actualy, which is why im not all that impressed. BUT in all fairness i have to give a REALLY good listen to the whole album, the lyrics dont disappoint though so it gives me hope that maybe its just me =D
I’m not sure why, but this review makes me want to not like this album even though I haven’t heard it yet.
Bottom line is he’s the brother of Jerome (of Robson and Jerome) and I STILL think he’s fucking brilliant! Haha.
In all seriousness this album is a wee cracker, the songwriting is very much a continuation of the first album – which needless to say means it’s class – it’s the arrangements that are just a little more varied, risky and theatrical, especially on Sweet William (pt2). I think the album is sequenced really well so stick with it and I’m sure if you liked the first record you’ll end up loving this one too.
Oran Mor at the end of the month bring it on.
The kid’s got chops!
He’s the broth… no wait, does not compute.
I really think Johnny Flynn has the makings of a new Bob Dylan for this generation… while I generally agree that this is not easy music to appreciate immediately, it does grow on you. As a musician, I understand the effort he has made in arranging all the different acoustic instruments, sorting out the keys and balancing the sounds; but I also marvel at the James Joycian juxtapositioning of themes in the lyrics – each time I listen to, say, barnacled battleship, it holds a different meaning for me.
This is certainly a very intelligent album, and a valid development from A Larum: it deserves to be listened to many times before you reach a verdict!
So, the album came out on this side of the pond yesterday, and I’ve had it on repeat for just under 14 hours….. (I’m a distracted listener. Have to “absorb” an album in this way or I can’t critique it at all.)
Who is harmonizing with Flynn on Amazon Love? It sounds like the lead vocalist from First Aid Kit (the Swedish sisters). This is my biggest displeasure of digital media; it’s no longer simple to satisfy a query. Anyway, that voice is the biggest surprise, for me, on this album so far… If it is indeed Lillie, she needs to be featured far more on subsequent albums. Honestly, it is a much mellower, beautiful compliment to Johnny’s rasp than Mz. Marlingz… and I adore Laura’s voice.
P.S. Why stop at licking his face?? ;P