ELBOW JANE 3 SIDE ISLAND REVIEW. netrhythms
This young and talented Wirral-based five-piece has been building up a loyal following over the course of the past five years. Last year they were invited to play at While & Matthews' prestigious Party On The Lawn gig - and you can hear why, for their own carefully crafted brand of contemporary folk/acoustic songwriting has a comparable degree of expressive perceptiveness allied to a happy accessibility and light-pop sensibility: a combination of qualities that would definitely appeal to fans of Chris and Julie.
3 Side Island is Elbow Jane's third CD, and their first for Fellside; the latter aspect might well also imply or invoke some degree of kinship with label-mates The Queensberry Rules in aspects such as their natural professionalism; their well-coordinated sound, polished (in this case almost west-coast/Eagles-style) vocal harmonies and easy instrumental prowess; and not least the entirely favourable first-impression their songs make, the engaging and tuneful nature of their compositions partially belying the depth of feeling within.
Elbow Jane are fortunate too in having no less than three strong songwriters within their ranks, each of whom has a matching strength of vocal presence and musicianship. Here, Rich Woods (guitar, bouzouki, dulcimer) contributes the lion's share (four songs), whereas Kev Byrne (guitars and keyboards) and Joe Topping (guitars, mandolin, dobro) give us two apiece, and two songs are joint compositions between Rich and Kev; the album's lone cover, Tim O'Brien's Walk Beside Me, is perfectly in keeping with the wistful and reflective mood of much of the band's own songwriting. Some of Elbow Jane's material hints at a While & Matthews inspiration, while other compositions betray a distinct influence from Mike Silver (though one could hardly hope for a better role-model!): especially Joe's poignant slice-of-life ballad One Beat Away, which carries potent echoes of Mike's Not A Matter Of Pride in its depiction of the plight of a couple who are being driven apart by the demands of life and the resultant misunderstandings. Mike's influence can also be felt on Kev's Travelling Man, a tribute to engineer William McKenzie who lived for much of his life in Liverpool; and the related thematic thread of pride in achievement is taken up by Rich's Hope And Glory, which (like the songs of TQR) displays its affection for the heritage and history of the home patch, with its commentary tempered with a degree of irony.
A more overtly political kind of commentary surfaces on Kev's Out Of Control, though again the tone is more contemplative than agit-ranting. So The Story Goes is another standout song: it both explores and questions the operation of chance and destiny, intriguingly intertwining this with a family story. Another human story however, that of Sarah Ferguson (Sole Survivor), is significantly less convincing, saddled as it is with an almost flippant swing-type setting. But I can't fault the recording quality, brilliant while not too clinical, which really does succeed in conveying the character of the band: their lightness of touch, the airy quality of their superb playing (although some of the keyboard work is arguably a trifle insistent), their keen sense of presence and well-developed writing. And there are some well-integrated violin and viola contributions from Rainbow Chaser Ruth Angell too.
But yet, despite the healthy contrivance of sufficient contrast between songs, there's also an inescapable final impression of homogeneity-in-consistency over the whole record and it all sometimes errs on the side of nice, albeit possessing the virtue of being commercially savvy without selling out.
It's abundantly easy to see why Elbow Jane are so enthusiastically received wherever they play, but somehow the slightly nagging feeling is there (and renews itself with each successive album) that they're almost too good to be true; you may well find that observation easier to assimilate than I do. But equally there's no escaping the fact that with 3 Side Island Elbow Jane have produced another very likeable and admirably thoughtful record.