The Hall of Einar Sunday Recommendation #51

Hello and welcome to my Sunday Recommendation. Thanks for joining me. Every week I read great wildlife and nature books, stumble upon engrossing websites and hear wonderful new music. This is my chance to bring you carefully curated recommendations of all the best I’ve experienced – every Sunday. If it’s folk, or independent, or about wildlife, nature or Orkney, I may love it, and so may you.

Winter Yards by Steve Knightley

I’ve followed a few musicians for decades and travelled across the country to see them, and bought every album they have released. One of those artists is Steve Knightley, and his new album The Winter Yards is a perfect example of why I’ve enjoyed his music so much. I’ve admired his work with Show of Hands, taking in live concerts in Gloucester Cathedral, Manchester Band on the Wall, and the Exeter Phoenix, and collected all the CDs. I’ve listened to countless hours of his music and had boundless pleasure from his songwriting.

His new venture is as a solo singer-songwriter, without his fellow Show of Hands multi-instrumentalist and good-times merchant Phil Beer. Steve Knightley has made his name as a folk musician, firmly in the modern folk tradition, despite his first solo album having such a distinctly shiny 1999 feel that he re-recorded it a decade later as Track of Words – Retraced with a more mature feel. How will this new album sound, unmoored from his duo?

Steve Knightley has been in the odd situation of being the front man in a duo for the last 39 years, with wall-to-wall touring. They achieved six sell-out shows at the Royal Albert Hall, which was a marketing miracle, since precious few people had heard of them. Show of Hands won BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards for Best Live Act, Best Duo, and also Best Original Song, for the biting attack on corporate greed that is Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed.

Steve Knightley’s new album The Winter Yards takes a turn away from folk and towards Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits and Peter Gabriel. The Winter Yards is a triumph which lays bare what a great songwriter he is in any genre. This album feels like a personal journey, one where Knightley blends the traditional with the contemporary, offering a snapshot of aspects of the human experience.

The standout new song is The Ride (The Winter Yards) which emerged during lockdown:

“This song emerged as a lament during lockdown, a time when we all felt the profound loss of connection, community and live entertainment. I use the metaphor of a family-run country fair to convey that yearning for shared experiences. My heartfelt thanks go to my friend Josh Podbury, who, with his experience of working ‘the loads’, provided the practical language and poetic imagery that helped bring this song to life.”

On this album Steve is joined by fantastic musicians including: Phil Henry (of the wonderful Edgelarks), Phil Beer, Track Dogs, Matt Clifford, and True Foxes.

One of the best songs Steve has ever written is Exile, a favourite of mine and also Phil Beer’s. It makes an appearance here, dressed in new clothes, but sounding as fresh and as needed as ever.

Here’s the song Transactions, which is a look behind three headlines:

“This song delves into three significant issues of our time: firstly, the need for controlled immigration to sustain our economy as our population ages; secondly, the confusion and challenges that young people face as they navigate their identities and sexualities and finally, the heart-breaking story of the Post Office scandal, where countless innocent employees were wrongly accused and persecuted. These are the ‘transactions’ of our society, each with its own narrative and consequence”.

Who else but Steve Knightley could weave immigration, gender identity, and the Post Office scandal into a single song and make it sound so compelling?

The stripped-down arrangements on The Winter Yards allow the stories in the songs to shine through, giving space for the lyrics to take centre stage. I like that each song appears to be a direct conversation between the artist and the listener as you immerse yourself in it.

Steve clearly has a need to explore more of his musical personality:

“It is a blend of the familiar and the new, a sound that I hope is both fresh and introspective yet still unmistakably me. In this record I am hoping to explore uncharted territory whilst staying true to the voice I’ve always had, finding new ways to tell the stories that matter.“

Requiem is a magnificent look at the depth of loss from the First World War from a personal perspective, following the great folk tradition of reusing the melody of another song, in this case, The Parting Glass. It includes the haunting sound of The Lost Sound Choir

The Winter Yards is an album of rich emotion and narrative depth, showcasing Knightley’s lyrical prowess and musical versatility. I’ve enjoyed listening to it all week and I highly recommend it.

Let’s hope Steve Knightley continues to do exactly what he wants and that his audience follow him wherever his muse takes him. I’ll be there for the journey.

That’s it for this week. I’ll be back with more recommendations of things you might adore next Sunday. In the meantime, I wish you a great week.

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