Till April Is Dead by Lisa Knapp.

Sorry I haven’t written anything on my blog page for a while. The weather has been a lot better for the last week or so, and I have been busy sorting out my little garden, generally tidying up, staining the fence, putting in a few plants, and that sort of thing. I have enjoyed being outside and getting active. I need to get a bit lively and fitter because Glastonbury is only two months away now. Anyway, the sky is dull, rainy  and overcast today, and it is a bit chillier, so I thought I’d tell you about an album I have been listening to recently. It was released in 2017 and called Till April Is Dead by Lisa Knapp. I first heard of Lisa about two years ago on BBC 6 Music and liked her immediately. Then when I heard her version of The Rowan Tree on the soundtrack of the film Living I decided to buy one of her albums, which I finally got around to this month. 

I wasn’t sure which one to buy, so opted for Till April Is Dead because that’s the month we are in. Also, it contains a song called May Garland which is the first song I ever heard by her. When the CD popped through my letter box and I read the sleeve notes I realised that all the songs are about the merrie month of May. Therefore, I wasn’t going to tell you about this album until April was out, but I won’t be here on May Day, so I might as well tell you about it now, and it passes the time on a rainy day. It is perfect music for listening to on a Spring morning. The opening track The Night Before May Day features the voice of a folklorist called Steve Roud talking about bringing in the May. This is a reference to the May flower which was made into garlands to wear. (American readers note Mayflower!) The sound of lambs bleating adds to the Springtime magic of the song. 

The title song Till April Is Dead / Hal-An-Tow is spoken by Lisa who noticed how in other countries such as Spain, France, Germany and Ireland they have similar colloquial expressions about Springtime as in Britain where we say things like “Never cast a clout until May is out”. Hal-An-Tow is a song performed on Flora Day in Helston, Cornwall. Places in Cornwall such as Padstow seem to have preserved these ancient folk pagan traditions more than other places in Britain. However, the third track Searching for Lambs is from Somerset. Lisa learned it from Shirley Collins. It features the guitar and vocals of Graham Coxon who you will know from the band Blur. The words of Staines Morris were first printed as The Maypole Song in 1656 and put to music in 1859. It features the voice of David Tibet and percussion by Pete Flood. I should mention that this album is produced and mixed by Lisa’s husband Gerry Diver. You may recall I reviewed Gerry’s album Speech Project a few months ago. He does an equally great job here. The production and sound effects are first class. 

This is especially true on May Garland with the winding of music boxes, bees buzzing, and birds singing. Lisa learned Lily White Hand from a musical Romany family called Brazil. It is a simple song with just viola and dulcimer accompaniment but tells of someone coming to an unfortunate end. Lisa’s daughter Bonnie is featured on Lark In The Morning in which wooden spoons are played like castanets. Lisa is joined by Mary Hampton on Bedfordshire May Day Carol and Gerry plays banjo while Dave East joins in on concertina. 

One of my favourite songs is Don’t You Go A Rushing. The great collector of folk songs Cecil Sharp was given this song by Mrs Eliza Ware from Over Stowey, Somerset in 1907. It is simple but effective with just Lisa plucking a viola and singing. (See video below) Where’s Troy? Is a little epigram from 1800 which only lasts 37 seconds. The penultimate song is a bucolic frolic called Pleasant Month Of May which Lisa learned from the famous Copper family of Rottingdean, Sussex. Padstow Obby Oss May Song brings this excellent seasonal charming album to a close. It features live recording of the May Day parade in Padstow, Cornwall in which Lisa took part. I have enjoyed listening to this album again today and will certainly play it during May. Lisa is a great singer. I can see why some people have described her as a British Bjork, she is quite quirky, but I see her as being part of a heritage that is helping to keep traditional music and customs alive in the crazy modern world. I would love to see her play live, preferably at a festival when the weather is nice. We shall see.