There’s no chance to get completely comfortable – read, bored – with Favorite Bell. It warrants your attention, as you’re rewarded richly for taking notice of the changes in speed, tone, and genre across the ten songs.
There’s a real tension between experimental folk and your more traditional indie sensibilities that Davia manages to hold so well that you’re never tipped into either. It’s easy, and perhaps lazy, to draw parallels with other quirky American female singers like Tori Amos or Regina Spektor, because while Davia fits into their space she’s also very much in her own world. This is voice and musicianship that is exactly what pop music needs – full of actual personality, delivered with a dollop of pizzazz. Favorite Bell is Davia’s debut album, recorded just before the world shut down for the global pandemic lockdown and finally released in early 2021, on digital only.
Davia’s playing and singing style keep you guessing. It’s dynamic. No, it’s dynamite. Whether playing violin, guitar, or performing soaring vocal acrobatics, she can do them all with aplomb. Her stories are what draw you in and hold you in a fantasy world she creates with her music, a place that you want to explore deeper and further. They captivate the listener. You couldn’t second guess where a song will go, you are along for the ride. Nowhere better are all these parts of Davia’s talents showcased than on tracks such as Pluto, Pluto, and Father.
On quieter tracks, such as Iscariot, you really get to hear what this young woman is capable of. The composition seems simple, yet her use of instrumentation and percussive effects, alongside her clever lyrical phrasing, lifts it way beyond your standard indie folk song. And that unique and quirky phrasing carries through to the album’s penultimate track Fig Tree. As an album, Favorite Bell feels timeless, despite being less than three years old at the time of writing. I’ve been listening to this album for quite some time and every time I stream it on her Bandcamp page (oh, to have it on vinyl!), I am never quite sure why it hasn’t (yet) got the wider attention it deserves. Let’s rectify that.
It’s an Unspun Hero for sure. Right now, we can only anticipate what’s next for Davia, but on this showing I think we’re in good hands.
This was the final album from James Varda, and it will be the first release from Unspun Heroes. It is scheduled for release on 15 March, 2024.
The front over of the Unspun Heroes release of Chance and Time by James Varda.
I write ‘was’ above, as James’s life and career came to a tragic end in 2015 when he succumbed to a rare cancer of the throat. On Chance and Time, James writes knowing this will be the last of his work to see the light of day, yet it is an astonishing album that is full of light and love. His website says it best, describing this album as one that “chronicled the experience of confronting illness and death. In doing so, he created a unique language and music of love and pain, family, landscape and loss.”
It’s fitting that a decade on, this album finally gets a well-deserved pressing on vinyl.
But who is James Varda?
Like all Unspun Heroes, this is music deserving of wider attention. It’s strange to me that such a talented musician and songwriter has remained below the radar since he was discovered at an open mic session at Clapham Folk Club by Roy Harper in the 1980s. James’s work may have many traits of the traditional English folk scene, yet he would undoubtedly now be classed as an indie folk artist; his flawless picking style settling him in the folk camp, but his versatility in terms of vocals and lyrics pushing him outside the folk realms into other genres.
His debut, Hunger, recorded in 1988 with top producer, John Leckie began what should have been a stellar rise to fame. However, while James appears at ease with writing and recording, he preferred to eschew the limelight and moved from London to rural Suffolk – and later to Norfolk. Yet, his songwriting became more refined, his tone even more delicate and reflective. Even after extensive radiotherapy, this was – and indeed, is – very much still the case on Chance and Time. In fact, as an album he reached his creative peak with this release, although we’ll never know if perhaps he was at a false summit and there was much, much more to come.
The album is hauntingly beautiful, even though it’s obvious that James’s life is evaporating, slowly. The emotional weight that James was carrying at the time is clearly present, and yet it only transfers itself to the listener as a comforting presence. And because of that, this is a record that rewards multiple listens – in fact, not only does it deserve to be played again and again, it offers up new glimpses on each and every listen. This is an album of two distinct halves: Side One, which brings you into James’s world at his most vulnerable and Side Two in which he shows you that, despite what he is going through, there is much to celebrate in this world in which we all live.
This is a special record, a one-of-a-kind collection of songs from a one-of-a-kind artist. And James was an artist. He colours in the world with a unique palette, and recolours it on the next play-through. It’s been an honour and delight to have been working with James’s friends and family to bring this out on vinyl. It’s a treasure we’re proud to have helped share with the world on the format it most deserves to be heard on.
Ultimately, he shows us what it means to love.
The album The great work done in the original production and mastering – by Bugs and Matt Colton respectively – was the perfect starting point. The music was handed over to Guy Davie at Electric Mastering for tweaks before he expertly cut the lacquer from which the vinyl was pressed.
An English artist deserved an English pressing, and so we chose to use the wonderful folks at Press On Vinyl in Middlesbrough for the 300 discs that have been created for our first release. And they did a fantastic job, too. On multiple plays across a variety of setups, it’s a silent yet expansive listen – however, it’s the reviews that will let us know if we’ve hit the level of quality that Unspun Heroes has strived for. Fingers crossed.
Extensive new liner notes have been written by James’s friend, the award-winning author, Nick Triplow. There are also personal thoughts from James’s wife, his son, and his brother alongside these, which have been written especially for this release. These, along with the lyrics, have been printed double-sided on high quality paper stock to produce a fold-out insert that opens up to an impressive 90cm long artefact. The gatefold experience without attracting a stupidly high retail price.
The insert, unfolded, showing lyrics, contributors and thanks, and an image of James and Fliss taken while recording the album.The reverse of the album insert, unfolded, showing the image of James’s guitar on his dining room table and the new liner notes written especially for this limited edition vinyl release.
As there will be with all Unspun Heroes releases, Chance and Time comes with a hand-numbered Obi strip. Again, this has been printed on high quality card.
Obi strip for the vinyl release. Each will be hand-numbered.
50 of these albums will be used to create a deluxe edition, complete with high quality prints of James’s handwritten lyrics for many of the songs on the album. These prints showcase his songwriting process and offer collectors something never seen beyond his close family and friends. These will be held within a handmade outer card sleeve, which has been debossed and foiled by an award-winning bookbinder in London.
This release has been a labour of love and will be available to pre-order from your local independent record store from January 12, 2024 via SRD. Direct sales will open up in late Feb, early March. It’s a tough time for independent music stores, and labels. With Unspun Heroes, I wanted to support the independent scene, which is why I chose to use a new UK pressing plant doing great things, and to not sell via dominant online stores named after South American rivers.
There are 300 copies only. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.
A massive thank you goes to Will at Needle Mythology. He knew James and has been a huge help, not only in getting access to this album, but by being a guide to the industry for this complete newbie. I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to Colin Sinclair, one of James’s best friends. We’ve spent many hours chatting and I’m thankful to him allowing me access to the larger archive of James’s work – much of which has never seen the light of day beyond a few demo cassettes and CDs.
Demo cassettes of James Varda’s music.
A 10-song demo CD of James Varda’s album, In the Valley. Many of the songs on this demo did not appear on the final release.
Finally, I’m truly honoured that James’s family allowed me, a stranger and outsider, to bring this beautiful music to life on vinyl for the first time. I extend a heartfelt thanks to them, and I hope I have done James’s vision justice. To stream the album, you can access a high quality version via Songbox until March 2024, or it’s on Spotify. A playlist is available on YouTube, embedded below.
