Greil Marcus
once famously described the music collected on
Harry Smith
's iconic
Anthology of American Folk Music
as documents of "the old, weird America." On the other side of the Atlantic,
Richard Dawson
has devoted his talents to conjuring a vision of an old, weird England, one that his nation's folk tradition is just not strange enough to match. (And given the eccentricity of a number of the
Child
Ballads, that's saying something.) Released in 2017,
Peasant
is a set of original songs that show the clear influence of traditional U.K. folk tunes, but between his sometimes dour, sometimes fantastic storytelling, his sweet but jagged melodies, the creaky lo-fi tone of his guitar work, and the sympathetic but ramshackle accompaniment of his musicians, this eases past freak folk into a uniquely personal variant on traditional music forms. Look somewhere between
the Incredible String Band
and
the Mekons
and you start to get an idea of where
Dawson
has pitched his tent, though on
he manages to make that place seem more welcoming than some might expect. This cycle of songs about life among the lovely has a genuine charm and vigor, even when dealing with the sordid lives of ogres and sex workers, and the dynamics generated by
and his ensemble fill these songs with a passion and life force that make them effective regardless of how you feel about
's deliberate eccentricity. If
is Fairport Unconventional,
is his
Liege & Lief
, a strange but fascinating journey through the frameworks of British folk music as seen by one truly unique set of eyes. [
was also released in an LP edition pressed on 180-gram vinyl, and also including a digital download card.] ~ Mark Deming