the imagined village’s parish council convenes second album

Uncategorisable collective The Imagined Village return on January 11 with their second album Empire & Love. Having settled into a regular membership of ten talented musicians and singers, down from a revolving cast of sixteen, the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winners are a more focused bunch this time around. Rather than focusing on having guest singers like Billy Bragg and Sheila Chandra, almost everything you hear is by the band’s core members, or ‘The Parish Council’ as they like to be known.

This includes Eliza Carthy, Martin Carthy, Sheema Mukerjhee and Chris Wood on vocals and various instruments; a rhythm section comprising Andy Gangadeen on drums, Ali Friend on bass and Simon Richmond on live electronica; plus guitarist Simon Emmerson, percussionist Johnny Kalsi and cellist Barney Morse Brown. Visiting councillor Jackie Oates pops in for a duet with Eliza on ‘Lark In The Morning’.

Conceived as a more ‘live’ sounding record than their 2007 self-titled debut, the album was wrapped up within six months, including the time spent converting Simon Emmerson’s garage into a studio. Among the tunes are traditional numbers like ‘Scarborough Fair’, ‘Byker Hill’ and ‘Lark In The Morning’ and a clutch of covers, all well rehearsed and road tested over the past year. Chris Wood’s ‘Sweet Jayne’ gets a sitar-led makeover and loses its ‘y’, while Ewan MacColl’s ‘Space Girl’ is utterly transformed. Most audacious, however, is the reinvention of Slade’s ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’ as a folk singalong led by Martin Carthy.

Immediately following the release of Empire & Love, The Imagined Village head out on a 12-date UK tour, starting in Glasgow at the Celtic Connections festival:

15.01.10 Celtic Connections, Glasgow
16.01.10 The Sage, Gateshead
18.01.10 Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
19.01.10 Irish Centre, Leeds
20.01.10 Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury
21.01.10 Town Hall, Birmingham
22.01.10 Concert Hall, Reading
23.01.10 Colston Hall, Bristol
24.01.10 City Hall, Salisbury
26.01.10 De Montfort Hall, Leicester
30.01.10 Royal & Derngate, Northampton
31.01.10  Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

Tickets are on sale now.

Written by: Alan Pedder

Tags: eliza carthy, empire and love, the imagined village

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