Reviews / Good things come to those who wait as Revellers return
A LOT of significant events have happened in the last nine years: the Covid pandemic, global conflicts, Trump getting elected again…the creation of the Reestit Neeps Facebook group.
It has also been nine years since Shetland folk rockers The Revellers released new music, with their second album Skeletons seeing the light of day way back in 2016.
But as the intro guitar riff to opening track Reactor Number 4 – slathered with a sharp shootin’, classic rock strut – sparks out the speakers you get the sense the seven-piece mean business on long-awaited follow-up Reactors.
The band – Michael Anderson, Magnus Bradley, Daniel Gear, John William Halcrow, Erik and Lewie Peterson and Adam Priest – are well-known for juggling rocked-up riffs and nimble-fingered, traditional flourishes like hot tatties, and it is a recipe which is largely repeated to good effect on the ten-track album.
But with recording engineer Jamie Hatch now at the mixing desk it is undeniable that Reactors is the best The Revellers have ever sounded, with crisp production bringing out the best in the instrumentation and vocals, while some layered sounds and samples add extra sheen.
From the outside, it also feels like the band’s songwriting is slowly evolving further from their early roots, which were largely inspired by folk rock act The Levellers, as they continue to furrow their own path – without forgetting about the past.
You may have already heard lead single Taking Back The Day, which has been ruling the local airwaves on SIBC for the last few weeks, and its upbeat chutzpah is an apt aperitif for the rest of the album.
Where The Olives Grow for example, dedicated to the late Dale Smith, opens with a rustic tenor guitar lament before launching into something of a rock ballad, while The Reflector pirouettes on an ear-worm chorus that you can already envisage ringing out through venues in the weeks, months and years to come.
Elsewhere Republic of Vinland sparks with Bradley’s Metallica-esque vocal snarl which leads to a harmony-laden chorus, and the shapeshifting six-minute closer Bystanders is perhaps one of the jewels in the crown, dissolving into a plunging riff which snaps back into an Iron Maiden-esque gallop to finish.
It’s not all rocked-up exuberance though, with the reflective Worth Fighting For bringing the pace down and tugging at the heart-strings with cello from guest performer Sophie Wishart.
Clearances, meanwhile, takes an experimental turn with brooding synth providing the backdrop to a Rhoda Bulter Shetland dialect poem, read by Mona Walterson. It’s not too often things go astray this far from the trodden path, and it’s a refreshing sojourn.
There’s also some additional fiddle from Magnus Williamson, who has been performing live with the band recently, while Hatch himself has also offered up some synth.
It can be hard to distil the band’s live show – which usually contains a melee of jumping, trays of nips and often a trow – into a record, but the energy still flows through the ten songs nicely. If you close your eyes, you can almost smell the sweat…and the drams.
Something unique about The Revellers is their ability to bring together listeners from different sides of the musical spectrum – from metal-heads to trad fans, from young and old – through combining banjo, mandolin and fiddle with electric guitar and Halcrow’s spirited drumming.
They’re just at home at the Shetland Folk Festival as they are cranking the dials up to 11 at the winter rock festival Riffmas, and this record is no different.
So what might happen over the next nine years? Maybe a tunnel? Some new north boats? Either way, going by what’s featured on Reactors, it really does appear that good things can come to those who wait.
The Revellers are celebrating the launch of Reactors with a sold out gig at the Gulberwick Hall tonight (Saturday). A family-friendly performance is also taking place at the hall at 2pm, where a limited number of CDs will be available. Entry is free with charity donations welcome.
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