Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Sometimes in life you cannot but help hold your breath, you don’t realise you are doing it, you just stand in awe at what is unfolding in front of you and the reflex action, that momentary last inhale, takes care of all the rest; only at the last second do you find the release and marvel at how stunned, how appreciative of the moment you have been.
It may be a synapse distortion, a place in between awe and surprise, but it should never be doubted that the meaning behind such an emphatic emotion is anything other than an innate response to beauty, to being pulled into a place beyond the realm of usual human response, a place where the shadows are banished out of existence for a brief unapologetic time.
We all have that moment, and as the listener takes in the flair and understanding of Sam Mabbett, Michael Biggins, and Callum Convoy, The Canny Band in deed, spirit, and words, so their self-titled debut album delicately plays with the idea of sensitivity and exuberance in the reels, a waltz maybe covered by the deep fascination that only a joy can harbour.
Across tracks such as Granny’s 93rd, Helen’s Song, Blind Harbour, The Canopy, and Jacob’s Waltz, the sheer drama of the album reveals and describes a distinction of humanity, of refusing to ever allow the group of players to be taken for granted, for this is a truth of our time, that even in collaboration we must maintain a belief in our own self-worth, for without our own input the world cannot continue, we cannot function unless we learn to sing from the same hymn sheet as well as project our own voice.
The Canny Band’s appeal is unwavering, there is untold treasures to come, of that the listener can be assured of, and as the album plays out, as the delights capture the imagination, so the detail of the album becomes clear. An album of intricate desire, of producing an internal beauty from within and allowing it to grow naturally to a place of atmospheric pardon and grace.
The Canny Band are more than assured of being held in esteem by the audience and the listener, such is their shrewdness, their cunning appeal in creativity, that there is a lot to love, a lot to embrace and share.
The careful and the clever will invest themselves heavily in the album, the least the listener can do is join them.
The Canny Band’s self-titled album is available now.
Ian D. Hall