What a great start to the week. Monday morning arrived bright
and sunny and the new album by Graham
Robins called Majestic Halls popped
through my letter box. I was pleased because it has been a long wait since Parish Papers & Other Stories was released
in 2015. I must say it has been worth the wait because Majestic Halls is another fine effort by Graham.
The CD is very attractively designed with photos of Graham
wandering around with his dog among the ruins of some ancient majestic hall. It’s the
contents that are most important though. Graham’s harmonica introduces the
first track Hall Of Faith which is a
very spiritual song awash with biblical references. I think Graham’s confidence as a
lyricist has grown over the last few years. I first discovered his music with
the Shipping News album and although
that work contained some great music I thought the lyrics were maybe a little too
influenced by Van Morrison, but that is definitely not the case here. As well
as Graham’s great voice, the backing vocals by Sallyanne Scarbrow deserve a
mention on this opening track.
Three
Foot Spoon is a fun track which seems to be set in a
greasy spoon café that has a juke box. Perfect to listen to with a cup of Rosie-Lee.
The sax arrangements by Paul Devonshire are wonderful on this album, as you can
hear on this great slice of R & B. By contrast The Learning Game is a very powerful spiritual song with fine
harmonica playing and impassioned vocals by Graham. On first listen this was my
favourite song on the album. Northern Ireland fans will love the next track
called Nights In Coleraine. All the musicians who worked on this
project do a great job, none more so than Ellie Hill on violin. I’m not sure
who plays the drums on each track but the drums are mixed very much to the
fore. I like the sentiment of Family Ain’t
Always Blood which is a message about the value of true friendship and Paul
Devonshire again plays wonderful saxophone. Indianola,
Mississippi is the home town of B.B King we are told in the next track.
This very bluesy song is a homage to B.B and as you would expect it calls for
some expert guitar playing which is provided by Chris Newman.
One
More Margarita is a very atmospheric country flavoured taste
of Americana. You can’t pin down Graham to any particular genre. On this album
you will find elements of Soul, Blues, Jazz, Celtic, Country & rock &
roll. This gives a great variety to the
album. It never gets ‘samey’. The Great
Awakening is an eight-minute tour-de-force with Graham’s soulful vocals accompanied by a jazzy horn arrangement in the background. Pure Soul is just what it says on the tin, pure soul with Rufus
Thomas, Marvin Gaye and Otis Redding being channeled down. It is ‘Soul-connected’
as Graham might say. This song demands saxophones and they are amply provided. The
eponymous Majestic Halls brings the
album to a majestic conclusion. You can hear this track below if you scroll down.
I have really enjoyed hearing this album today which a
great addition to Graham Robins fine body of work. If you would like to find out how
to buy the album for yourself then visit Graham’s website. http://www.grahamrobins.com/
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