The Levellers - Static On The Airwaves
Artist: The Levellers
Album: Static On The Airwaves
Label: On The Fiddle Recordings
OUT NOW
Rating: 3.5/5
The Levellers have enjoyed a career that has spanned over twenty years and Static On The Airwaves marks their tenth studio album from the band.
Produced by Sean Lakeman Static On The Airwaves is being called the band’s most accomplished record to date and it certainly has a very current feel to it.
The title track on lasts forty nine seconds but it is We Are All Gunmen where the album really kicks as the band mix rock elements with their well known folk roots - the two genres going incredibly well together.
Mark Chadwick’s gravely vocals are on fine form on this track as he brings to life the cutting lyrics as he sings “Everyone drinks socially, not because they're crippled emotionally, and all our sleep is trouble-free, wrapped up in caring arms."
Truth Is is one of the catchiest tracks on the album with a really Irish flavour to it as the fiddle really sets the pace and gives the track an upbeat and bright sound.
But this is an album that has a real message with the likes of After The Hurricane and especially Our Forgotten Towns talking about the decline of British society.
Our Forgotten Town really does carry a very potent message about our society with lines such as ’There are our forgotten towns slowly raised but quickly drowned’.
But the track is not as doom and gloom as you might imagine as there is a great melody to the song, largely thanks to some more fantastic strings.
Static on the Airwaves sees The Levellers move away slightly from the traditional folk roots as they do introduce some rock in the album and it’s great to see them experiment with the two genres.
This is an incredibly upbeat and catchy album and there is a real injection of energy through the instruments that are used on the tracks.
But The Levellers have not moved away from the fact that they have always been a band with something to say and they have tapped into the struggles of the time and they have not been afraid to speck their mind on certain issues.
This is an album of real conviction from The Levellers and is it is a record that you can enjoy incredibly easily.
The Levellers - Static On The Airwaves is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw