Sweet Billy Pilgrim - Crown And Treaty
Artist: Sweet Billy Pilgrim
Album: Crown and Treaty
OUT NOW
Rating: 4/5
It has been three years since Sweet Billy Pilgrim released their last album Twice Born Men but this week they are back with their new record.
Twice Born Men brought them a Mercury Music Prize nomination and now their music will reach a much wider audience as Crown and Treaty is being distributed by a major label.
And boy this is a great album!!! Yes I have to admit I didn’t know what to expect from Sweet Billy Pilgrim this time around but I am delighted to say that they haven’t strayed too far away from the sound that they are famous for.
Joyful Reunion is opening track to the album and there is a really melodic feel to the track while Tim Elsenburg’s vocals are really light - it’s not hard to see why Sweet Billy Pilgrim have been compared to Elbow.
The backing chorus towards the track really bring this track to life and the voices contrast beautifully with Elsenburg. Throw in some guitars, piano, strings and trumpets and you have a really eclectic sounding track.
Archaeology picks up the pace, in fact it couldn’t be more different from the opening track, and there is almost a haunted feel to this great song.
There is a change of pace again with Blakefield Gold as the acoustic guitar kicks in and this is perhaps one of the most minimum sounding tracks on the album as they keep the vocals, backing vocals and instruments really basic.
But basic really lets the tender side of Elsenburg’s vocals shine - this is such a stunning track and a real highlight on the album.
From start to finish you can feel that Crown and Treaty has been crafted with real care and attention to detail from the meaning behind the lyrics right through to which instruments will bring each track to life.
The arrangements and the lyrics have been artfully constructed and beautifully weaved together - the wide range of instruments on the album gives each track a very different sound as well as feel.
It is a very adventurous album as no two tracks sounding alike as the band are more than willing to experiment with their sound throughout the record - it’s great to see them testing out new sounds.
It’s a shame that there are only nine tracks on the album as I could have listened to this album twice over.
It’s not hard to see why Sweet Billy Pilgrim have been tipped for big things this year as I doubt that we will hear another album like this in the whole of 2012.
Sweet Billy Pilgrim - Crown and Treaty is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw