Will Varley – Outside Over There.

Postcards From Ursa Minor by Will Varley.

Last summer when I was going to Glastonbury my brother told me to try and see Will Varley who was playing on the Leftfield Stage. He knows Will because they live in the same small seaside town in Kent. It is impossible to see everything at Glasto, and I missed Will’s set. I regretted not seeing him because I wanted to tell my brother all about it. Anyway, when I was in Frome last week, I saw that Will was playing there in February at a small venue called The Tree House, So I bought myself a ticket for that gig and I’ll tell you all about it afterwards. I thought I ought to acquaint myself with his music so I would have an idea of what to expect on the night. I looked on the internet and didn’t want to pay full price for his latest CD, but I found a previously owned CD on Music Magpie for only about £4.00. It is Will’s third album from 2015 called Postcards From Ursa Minor, and that is what arrived here on Friday. 

I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t a little booklet of sleeve notes or lyrics to give me an idea of the inspiration for the songs, but on the cover, it says that the album was produced by Tristan Ivemy who also plays electric guitar. Will wrote all the songs and plays guitar, piano and percussion. There is also accordion and fiddle. Frank Turner and Beans on Toast who you may have heard of help out on vocals on some songs, notably the first track. I am very impressed with what I have been hearing.

The opening track is As For My Soul. It is a fun song which sounds to me like a Cossack drinking song. The tune reminds me a bit of Those Were The Days by Mary Hopkin. The message is that the world is going down the drain, so we might as well carry on drinking. For me one of the most heartfelt and powerful songs on the album is the second track The Man Who Fell To Earth. Don’t be like me and presume that the song is about the David Bowie film of the same name. This song was inspired by the tragic story of Jose Matada who was a refugee from Mozambique who in 2012 stowed away in the wheel-well of a jumbo jet flying from Angola to London. He fell to his death as the aircraft was on the approach to Heathrow Airport. The lyrics are pure poetry of a very high standard. 

Seize The Night (see video below) is the kind of song that Bob Dylan might have written in the 60s if he was English. I can tell that Bob is a big inspiration to Will. I know the Latin quote carpe diem (seize the day) This song tells us to seize the night. The lyrics of this song and others sound quite autobiographical to me. Outside Over There is another song with poetical lyrics and displays a great story-telling ability. It is like a dark medieval fairy tale with a sad ending. It tells the story of Ida whose sister is stolen from her crib, and Ida sets out to find her. The acoustic start of This House reminded me of Johnny Flynn and the theme song of The Detectorists. It is a plaintive song of lost love. Talking Cat Blues is hilarious and a homage to Talkin’ World War 3 Blues by Dylan. A cat video on YouTube makes the cat a celebrity. From Halcyon is a wistful nostalgic paean to a lost friend who used to sing ‘Lowlands Away’. Dark Days Away is a romantic song to a woman who can be anything, and could take these dark days away. I like the backing vocals towards the end of the song by Nicola Vella.

Send My Love To The System is a protest song of somebody who wants out. Will plays some nice piano on this song. The Endlessness and The Space Between is another great song which moves forward relentlessly with dramatic doom laden guitar. Concept Of Freedom casts a very cynical eye on the world today. It says that ‘Freedom is just a PR exercise’ and there is no such thing as a free man now. The lyrics mention John Harris who was a prominent figure in the ‘Freeman Of The Land’ movement in recent years, but I don’t know anything about that. Is Anyone Out There? is one of my favourite songs on the album after two listens. It is a plea to aliens to come and help the human race because we have destroyed the planet. They could at least send us a postcard from Ursa Minor, hence the album title. That song ponders on space and the final track The Question Of Passing Time looks at how time passes so quickly. It is just Will and his guitar. I can imagine that Will must sit on the beach near his house at night and study the stars, space, time, and the meaning of it all. I wonder if he has a telescope.

I am very pleased to have discovered the music of Will Varley. He is brilliant and knocks spots off the likes of Ed Sheeran in my opinion. His music deserves a bigger audience. I like every track on this album. When I see him on February 24^th, I’ll certainly buy his latest CD at the merchandise stall and find out where his journey has taken him since Postcards From Ursa Minor.

 

Will Varley - Seize The Night - (official video)