Neptune [CD]

Repeated listens are in order here,Eliza broods and emotes,and it's not an easy ride...but......stick with it and the songs will reveal themselves.Give Neptune some time,and you will be rewarded,lucky to have invested time with a truely great English songwriter.Hey...the group ain't bad either---FULL MARKS.

Eliza Carthy should write a book on the art of risk management. She is a woman who refuses to be pigeon holed into any strict musical box and knows how stir up some welcome controversy along the way. Its almost now superfluous to state that she is the daughter of folk royalty since she is in her own right one of the best British musicians treading the boards, working in addition with a dizzying array of the best and brightest including Nick Cave, Billy Bragg, Paul Weller and the Transglobal Underground.

Her new album "Neptune' like 2008s "Dreams of Breathing Underwater" before it, shows her new found determination not just to interpret other peoples songs but to develop as a songwriter and stick two large fingers up to the confines of musical genres. This could loosely be described as a folk album but its much more besides containing a feast of torch songs, jazz and clever pop songs. Moreover anyone that can start an album with the opening line that "I was drinking champagne with Jerry Springer." should be warmly embraced and lauded. The line comes from the truly lush opener "Blood on my boots" which starts a slow jazz blues lament and builds into a bawdy waltz stretching over six minutes. It's a tremendous start but is happily matched by other excellent songs not least the wicked social observation of the "folk funk" of "Britain is a car park". Other highlights include the personal and reflective "Revolution" which is one of the best songs she has penned thus far, accompanied with her trademark mezzo soprano vocals. The pick of the bunch however is the slow piano ballad "Thursday" a song of restrained power underpinned with a lovely arrangement (respect to both Phil Alexander's piano and Bethany Porter's emotive cello at this point) and Carthy providing a vocal that hits the emotional bull's-eye which she in turn nearly matches on the brilliant "Write a letter". A question at this point to Amazon since the I Tunes download also includes an eleventh track the joyous "Little gods and monsters"? This has almost a African feel and really must be seen as essential to the sequencing of the album since its one of the most commercial songs that Carthy has ever recorded.

"Neptune" sees Eliza Carthy on sparkling form and crying out to be bought in large quantities by the great British public. Britain has indeed got talent and its doesn't need a panel of C list judges to recognise that in Eliza Carthy we have a very precious asset.

(PS Happy 70th Birthday Martin Carthy)

This is definitely moving from her roots, even more so than Dreams of Breathing Underwater. Having said that, you can see the transition taking place over the years, and it's a good thing. No musician should stand still, and Eliza certainly can't be accused of that. Both writing and delivery seem to get better with every new cd.
This is an album well worth buying, it is inventive,and as I say above it is well delivered.
What category do you slot this into? To classify it as Folk would probably contravene the trade descriptions act, so I think it is best not to bother trying! Take this as it comes and enjoy it for what it is.
With the last two albums this good I can't wait to see where she goes next.