Prizes awarded to artists for their work are not often controversial. 2005 was different. Certainly for the Mercury Music Prize, which is awarded to an album that a panel of industry judges deems to have been released the previous year in the UK for a British or Irish act. It’s usually obvious who will win. However, in 2005 it was controversially awarded to Antony & The Johnsons who many complained was living in the US and therefore not eligible.
It was almost as controversial as 1994, the year that M People won it.
Of course, any judgment that isn’t the one you would have made is wrong. However, the point is often not who wins but who doesn’t. And in 1995, the biggest winner was a young man from Devon called Seth Lakeman.
Previously known for his work with his brothers, Sam and Sean, Seth went solo in 2002. Kitty Jay, nominated in those controversial Mercury Music Awards, was his second album. The story goes that it was recorded for less than £300 and its title track tells the story of a Dartmoor landmark, Jay’s Grave.
What was immediately clear from Seth live appearances was here was a young artist reaching his potential. Often singing while playing violin, the album is everything folk can be while also not sounding like a folk album might be expected to sound. It’s pacy. It has an undercurrent that might be described as unnerving and potentially violent. It makes your heart race and the hairs on the back of your neck rise. It’s also contains a warmth and humility thanks to the stories that act as scaffold for Seth’s songwriting skills.
And then there’s his voice, shown off on more traditional interpretations such as Farewell My Love and Cape Clear. Strong, with a tone that evokes bucolic scenes and the traditions from which its words are drawn, but which has an edge of punk venom.
It’s undeniably indie pop wrapped in folk instrumentalism. And that’s a good thing. It takes the elements of pop composition and presents them using sounds and instruments not traditionally associated with the oeuvre from which it draws. The result is something quite special.
Its rawness perfectly suits the subject matter. However, it would sound just as amazing with a full orchestra, I’m certain. I can attest to the fact that seeing this album live lifts it into another realm. Seth is a performer from whom you cannot tear your eyes, or ears. Listening back now, as I write this, the title track could easily be sampled by Wu Tang Clan and no one would think anything of it. As versatile and it is virtuoso.
Available on CD only, it’s an Unspun Hero that really needs to make the leap to vinyl. Stream it in full below.