Mention the statement Folk Opera and I expect you do 1 of 2 things ; run for the hills, or warmly recall Anais Mitchell’s Hadestown and hope and pray that The Butcher is half as good as that release. Well, you’re in luck...
The Butcher is a 20 song double album’s worth of storytelling which may have been called a concept album once upon a time. It’s an epic ghost story, with a folklore style message of The Butcher who is often knuckle deep in blood, but has seen no evidence of a soul. I guess the one downside of reviewing a digital release is lack of access to the lyrics which would surely enhance this listening experience.
Mosley has a golden beautiful voice up there with all his folk contemporaries, especially Nick Drake, and he has a cast of (almost) thousands helping him out of the record :Jamie Lawson, Esther Dee, Moses (Mosley’s old band), Carolyn Mark (Canadian Juno award winner), Josienne Clarke (BBC Folk Awards 2015 winner, just signed to Rough Trade) and musicians from Florence & The Machine, Feist, Benjamin Clementine and Patrick Wolf's bands.
In these days of Spotify and playlists, this is an album that totally bucks the trend and demands to be listened to from start to finish, and even seen as a live stage play or performance. As such, I will avoid mentioning specific tracks as the overall result is more than just a sum of its parts.
This is epic, daunting, dark, mysterious, nostalgic, contemporary, light, dark and most importantly wonderful. How refreshing to have releases like this in today’s climate of quick fixes and instant gratification. Take some time to listen and absorb this record and you will be richly rewarded.
9/11
Keith @kjsmith4082
