The Driftwood Manor - Same Figure Leaving

I like these guys. I like them a lot. Well it's mainly one guy called Eddie Keenan along with a bunch of likeminded musicians and peers helping him along the way. 'The Same Figure' was originally released as a limited CDR on Ruralfaune a while back and now it gets a proper release where folks can actually get to hear it as the initial pressing was all tiny miniscule like. On this album Mr Keenan is aided and abetted by folks from United Bible Studies and Steve Fanagan (Northstation/Slow Loris). What we have here is a truly excellent folk album which I played 3 times in a row the other morning before anyone else got to work (I start early!). I'm not one to usually replay the same record but I just needed to listen to it again! There's a large Celtic thread holding the album together giving it coherence but what really makes this album is the songwriting which is simply brilliant. There's not a duff track on it. The arrangements are excellent as well. In 'You Have Mapped Pathways' it's essentially man and guitar but then there's some whooshy oscillations in the background, some delightful female vocals popping up and a brass section appears out of nowhere making a great tune even better. There's light and dark on the album too with some songs having a more morbid edge than others giving it some sort of lifelike balance. Beneath the traditional folk there's an experimental edge with feedback and strange noises popping up hither and thither. 'On A Corner of Athlone' destroys me every time I hear it. It's one of the best songs I've heard in ages and it's so simple it makes me feel angry for not thinking of it first. The whole album is genius and it gets my 100% total and utter recommendation. Initial copies come with a bonus 3" CD. Fans of Alasdair Roberts and the like take heed!