Review: Petrichor by The Lost Trades.

I won’t be going out anywhere today, so I thought I’d pass the time by telling you about an album I bought recently. It is called Petrichor by The Lost Trades. I saw this group play at The Laverton Hall in Westbury  and was so impressed that I bought their CD. Also, I like to support local musicians if I can. They are a three-piece acoustic folk band from Wiltshire consisting of Tamsin Quin, Phil Cooper and Jamie R Hawkins. You might recall that I saw Tamsin a few years ago when she supported Beth Orton at The Cheese & Grain in Frome and I wrote a review of her album Gypsy Blood. It’s good to see how her career has progressed since she teamed up with Phil and Jamie. What I really like about this group is their wonderful harmonies. A lot of the songs I would describe as Americana, and I think on some songs I can detect the influence of bands such as Crosby, Stills & Nash or The Eagles in their sound. I didn’t know the meaning of the albums title Petrichor so I looked it up on the internet. It said Petrichor is a distinctive, earthy, usually pleasant odour that is associated with rainfall especially when following a warm, dry period and that arises from a combination of volatile plant oils and geosmin released from the soil into the air and by ozone carried by downdrafts. That seems very appropriate to this rainy summer we have been having, and this album is certainly a breath of fresh air.

The opening track is called Old Man Of The Sea which reminds me of an Ernest Hemingway book with a similar title, but I think Jamie wrote the song inspired by the loss of his father. Coming to terms with the loss of a friend or family member seems to be the theme of at least three songs on this album. It is a great song to open the album with. Tamsin takes the lead vocals on Keep My Feet Dry, and I think it is Phil who is the lead vocalist on the jolly, catchy and sometimes humorous Atlas. Long Since Gone is a very personal poignant song by Phil and the others bring their voices to the table. Daffodils is a catchy upbeat life-affirming song about the joys of friendship. (See video below, which has some nice views of Bradford On Avon!) 

Under The Hornbeam sung by Tamsin is a nature inspired song. Reading the lyrics to these songs shows that this group is very close to nature which is another theme of the album. There are birds, insects, forests, trees, leaves and rivers in abundance. It might be because they live in rural Wiltshire. In case you don’t know what a hornbeam is, Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus Carpinus in the family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. (I just looked it up!) 

Fireflies is one of the standout tracks for me. As well as the vocal harmonies of this album I love the instrumentation, but I’m not sure who plays what instrument. The sleeve notes tell us that Lorna Fisher guests on mandolin on this song. Little Blackbird is another nature song. Ash trees appear here, oak trees and sycamores appear in other songs. Best Foot Forward is an optimistic positive song about overcoming adversity. The title track Petrichor follows and to my ears has the most English sound of all these songs. The sound of thunder tells us that rain is on the way. All the group share vocal duties on The Dark Forest before the final track Valhalla. In Norse mythology Valhalla is a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. It is where those who are slain in battle spend their time feasting. This was my favourite song when I saw them recently. A powerful song about loss and rebirth. Tamsin’s excellent vocals are accompanied by the eerie sound of a simple drumbeat. That brings this most enjoyable album to a close. Well done The Lost Trades. If you get the chance to see them live, I urge you to do so.