The threadbare textures, gentle, swaying rhythms and subtle, simmering energy of Martyn Bates strongly evokes classic English scenes, amours, and episodes. Bates’ exhalations float over woeful dirges of shifting sonic clouds and spidery guitar figures, sketching tales where dateless memories and everyday tribulations intersect.
Casting its gaze over Bates’ now twenty years as a solo artist, the compilation harvests tracks which range from gaunt and monastic in feel to more angular pieces with bold harmonies and rustic mutations of guitar noise. At times, the shifts in styles are abrupt and unexpected, yet for all that, a certain narrative is nevertheless established over the course of the album, as each particular piece may be traced back and shown to have drawn sap from a common ancestral heritage, namely, that of English roots rock.
On compositions such as ‘Cheery Tree Carol’, Bates ruminates on a biblical story of Joseph and Mary while multitracked harmonies slowly drift away from mournful guitar picking. The contributions of instrument maker Max Eastley are evident in the form of warm, watery electronic chords, which makes the song feel more expansive and lengthy than its temporal reality might suggest. Other pieces are thronged with disparate threads. In particular, the harmonium hum of ‘Once Blessed’ lends the piece a hazy, echoing quality, while at the same time, tiny flutters, granular drones and Bates’ confident, yearning voice brings the piece back into startling focus. A beatific, dreamlike aura thus transfuses much of the work on display here. And even though it may be the case that we can only be interested in the spiritual matters which animate much of Bates’ material, whereas previous generations were in awe of them, certainly their robust yet naked and plaintive beauty still inspires much interest indeed.
Max Schaefer
