Altsounds - Under One Sky - The Songs EP [EP]

Gene Shay, co-founder of the Philadelphia Folk Festival, defined folk music by saying, "In the strictest sense, it's music that is rarely written for profit. It's music that has endured and been passed down by oral tradition…it brings a sense of community. It's the people's music."

I love that description. It covers all that is right and good with music, which is often lost these days being clouded by profits and sales, and going back to the roots, back to how it was originally meant to sound.

Shay’s description also illustrates perfectly The Songs EP from Under One Sky.

Under One Sky is a collaboration brought together by Scottish multi-instrumentalist, John McCusker, fusing together 12 highly acclaimed Scottish and English musicians and vocalists. Without even mentioning the outstanding lead vocalists, on any one track from The Songs EP you can hear musicians such as Andy Cutting, Ian Carr and Ewen Vernal combining to form 5 pleasant and thoughtful tracks.

The first track, Hush A Bye, is a sweet, understated lullaby with vocals from critically acclaimed John Tams. The arrangement of this track is perfection; and the honesty and sincerity from Tams is obvious. The range of instruments, including a flute and an accordion, used on Hush A Bye are blended seamlessly with lyrics such as “Lay you down/Lay you down easy…I’ll be your cradle/I’ll rock you to sleep”, making the track heartfelt and giving it the much sought-after lastability factor. I can imagine people of all ages loving this track.

Julie Fowlis’s melodious voice brings in ‘S Tusa Thilleas - which translates to read “It’s you who will come back”. Fowlis, as the only female vocalist on the EP, performs a stunningly emotional Scottish Gaelic song backed by minimal but precise guitar, percussion and fiddle. For me, who has never heard a song performed in Gaelic, I was amazed not only by Fowlis’s amazing voice, but the beauty of the language. The longest track on the EP at 6 minutes, 'S Tusa Thilleas commands the respect a song this lovely should be given.

All Has Gone from Graham Coxon (yes, that is Blur’s Graham Coxon) is a faster track - in comparison – and the background beat is “peppy” throughout the entire song. The only slightly frustrating thing about the entire EP - would be here, where Coxon’s voice gets slightly irritating by the end of the 5 minute track. Although, to give him the benefit of the doubt, he may have just had the bad luck of following Julie Fowlis.

Lavender Hill, with vocals from Idlewild’s Roddy Woomble, is my favourite song on the EP, and that can be credited almost solely to Woomble’s voice. He is such an immense talent, and I’m so glad he has featured on not only the EP, but the album also. McCusker’s fiddle on this track is incredible; the power of one instrument to evoke so much is inspiring. Disappointingly, this is the shortest track on the EP.

Finally, Will I See Thee More with vocals from Jim Causley begins with subtle acoustic guitar and builds with McCusker on fiddle. Causley’s voice is deep and hopeful grabbing you from the first line “Must I be bound to leave your side/when all my heart is begging you to bide”
Lyrics like “All of the queen’s horses and all of the queen’s men…” note a fantastical, fairytale like tone to the track, really reinforcing the underlying tradition in the song.
Causley sounds well beyond his 27 years on Will I See Thee More, proving McCusker’s impeccable taste when he chose the artists for the project.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this is still a traditional folk album - so it’s not going to appeal to everyone. But if you’ve ever considered giving the folk genre a try, here is the perfect appetizer.

The Songs EP is such a spectacular release from John McCusker’s Under One Sky. All 5 tracks are taken from the forthcoming album, which is to be released on 2 February 2009. The musical calibre on this EP alone is enough to motivate anyone to dig deep for the full album next year, or possibly even head out and catch Under One Sky live on the few UK dates they are still to play (until 8 December).