Genre: Folk Punk
Label: On The Fiddle Recordings
Release date: March 10th
Members:
Mark Chadwick – lead vocals, guitar,
Jeremy “Jez Cunningham – bass guitar, guitar, backing vocals,
Charlie Heather – drums, percussion,
Jonathan “Jon” Sevink – fiddle, violin,
Dan Donnelly – guitar, vocals,
Matt Savage – keyboards, backing vocals,
Additional Musicians
Hannah Miller: Cello , Backing Vocals
Ollie Austin: Percussion
Tracklisting:
The Game
Down By The River ‘O’
The Cholera Well
Together All The Way
Wake The World
Wheels
Battle Of The Beanfield
Man O War
Sell Out
Sitting In The Social
When the band released ‘We The Collective’ in… wait… what… 2018! Bloody hell, where have the last 4+ years gone? When they released ‘We The Collective’, the reworked versions of some of their finest tracks gave them a new lease of life, resulted in numerous sold-out shows around the country and reignited for many their love of the band once more.
A hugely successful studio album with ‘Peace’ cemented their return to to top tier of the UK charts and reminded us that musicians could sing about the toughest of topics and still make a song enjoyable, an artform lost on many artists these days sadly.
After a brief pause, we’re back once more with a similar offering to ‘We The Collective’ but this time, we’ve got new music mixed in with reworkings of the old material. ‘Collective – Together All The Way’ opens with a beautifully re-worked version of their classic hit ‘The Game’ which, given it comes from ‘that’ album, means that everything gets off to a familiar and welcome start. A stripped back, traditional folk approach with the tempo slowed right down allowing for the emotion of the song to shine through. They follow it up with the lead single ‘Down By The River ‘O” which feels like a cross between ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia’ and a collaboration with McDermott’s 2 Hours. The track was actually written by friend and collaborator Rev Hammer about the Great Flood of 1968 in Buntingford.
‘Battle of the Beanfield’ does of course warrant another mention because it allows Mark’s vocal work to sit proud alongside Hannah’s soulful cello playing and adds an extra layer of depth to the song (something the NME would never have said about the band when the original version was released). Who knew that, over 30 years later, the same song could convey such a strong sense of emotion that feels as impactful today as it did back then.
Here’s the original as performed at some local festival.. Glasto something or other from 1992.
The album closes with ‘Sitting In The Social’ which sadly reflects the current state of how people continue to live hand to mouth in a society that hasn’t seemingly moved on since the band first brought the plight of so many to our attention all those years ago. That they continue to sing about such matters, trying to collect your giro and being told to come back the next day leaving you with nothing and no money to buy food, is commendable. That they need to sing about such subjects in this day and age is scandalous. If only more bands got the same level of support and recognition as Levellers do when it comes to highlighting the plight of so many people in society then perhaps the world (or at least our country) might be a better place. Until such time, the invisible masses and the plight of those that remain ignored continues.
Score 9/10
Reviewed by Adrian Hextall
The band are on tour at the moment – Dates below:
ACOUSTIC TOUR:
MARCH 2023
Mon 6 CAMBRIDGE Corn Exchange
Tue 7 NORTHAMPTON Derngate
Wed 8 READING Hexagon
Thu 9 LONDON Hackney Empire
Fri 10 POOLE Lighthouse
Sat 11 TRURO Hall For Cornwall
Mon 13 BARNSTAPLE Queen’s Theatre
Tue 14 YEOVIL Westlands
Wed 15 HARROGATE Royal Hall
Thu 16 HULL City Hall
Fri 17 NEWCASTLE Tyne Theatre & Opera House
Sat 18 BUXTON Opera House
Tickets are available from myticket.co.uk
www.levellers.co.uk
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