aaamusic | On 06, Mar 2011

‘Nightingale‘ is the second album from London based folk/pop outfit ‘Erland and the Carnival, fronted by Orcadian singer Erland Cooper’.

The album opener ‘So Tired In The Morning’, instantly shows ‘Erland and the Carnival’s’ ability to convey everyday relate-able feelings and situations through a different perspective, through the creation of beautiful slightly twisted instrumentals accompanying each track and narrative throughout the album. The second track ‘Map Of An Englishman’ conveys the bands ability to recreate and reinvent found objects, through fresh eyes and second perspectives making them there own. The third track ‘Emmeline’ takes you into a more sinister world of sound, inspired by the poems Before Tea and Alice in Wonderland by AA Milne, ‘Emmeline’ takes you into the horror film-esque world of ‘Nightingale’.

‘Nightingale’ echoes darkness, presenting a catchy reinvention of folk/pop from both sourced and original origins by the band. Mixing contagious poppy instrumentals with sinister narrated lyrics, first luring you into madness then dropping you head first into its twisted centre, without a paddle all whilst being accompanied by a weird and wonderful soundtrack of undeniable greatness.

Taking inspiration from art, literature,history and even the subconscious as shown in ‘I’m Not Really Here’ which also draws on the classic Blues lyrics “nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen”. However, not every tracks is inspired by known, existing sources for instance ‘East and West’ draws on the personal narrative of frontman ‘Erland Cooper’ leaving Orkney for the first time and the contemplation of returning at the time. Contrasting with many of the other tracks on the album ‘East and West’ shows a softer, gentler side of ‘Erland and the Carnival’, before dropping us back into the twisted heart of ‘Nightingale’ with ‘Springtime’.

‘Nightingale’ is a beautiful thirteen track album highlighting the amazing talent of ‘Erland and the Carnival’ and the reinvention of folk/pop for modern day ears. Simply brilliantly.

Author: Khadija Pandor.
UK TOUR DATES
APRIL

1st Liverpool – Williamson Tunnels

2nd Sheffield – Leadmill

3rd Birmingham – The Glee Club

4th Southampton – The Joiners

5th Exeter – Phoenix

MAY

18th London – The Garage