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IVAN DREVER - Press Reviews |
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NOTES FROM AN ISLAND - From LIVING ORKNEY Paying homage to his homeland ‘Notes From An Island’ – Ivan Drever (Attic Records £12.99p) An outright triumph, this album - of 12 new Orkney songs which deserve to be sung for generations to come – lifts Ivan Drever up to the highest podium on the European folk and country scene. With its deep bass sound, perfectly crafted lyrics - carefully peppered with nostalgia - and pure musicianship, ‘Notes From an Island’ is not only the former Wolfstone front man’s finest album, but is, quite simply, faultless. On listening to it my mind drifted back to the solid folk sounds of the 1960s and the country sounds of the 1980s. There’s an echo of Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash and strands of gospel music in the fusion of sound it creates. But above all, sits the fact that this is a true craftsman – poet, musician, singer and songwriter – opening up his soul to us all in tribute to his homeland and those Orkney folk who helped shape his life. Poignant and potent this CD – which deserves to become the biggest seller of all time in Orkney – is also a major production feat for Owen Tierney at Attic Records in Finstown, who – against all the odds – manages to fuse the different backing sounds from guest artists as diverse as Stuart Shearer, Kirkwall City Pipe Band and Aimee Leonard and the Song Shop Choir, into a seamless creation. Anyone who knew Ivan in his youth will be able to relate to the words and feel the warmth. Probably the best example of this is on ‘Remember’ – relating to his young days in Sanday with memories of Bobbo Grieve driving through the snow and Billy Ward in a haunted house at Scar, Billy Drever, Tommy Garrioch and even Police Sergeant Peace telling him to “get his house in order.” Add the lazy cascading drift of the fiddle and guitar on the sea-inspired ‘Legend of Boray Isle’; the moving ‘Ballad of James and Isa Cursiter’ – a beautiful song dedicated to his children to remind them of the importance of the land; the quirky ‘I Suppose We Could Talk About Kirkwall’ (with its references to the front bar at the Ola, Birsay, Westray and Stronsay) and the two instrumentals, his tribute to the pipe band – which literally makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck – and the haunting ‘Rose of St Magnus.’ There’s also the fun waltz ‘Dances with Grulie Belkies’, the moving love song to Orkney ‘Take The Song Home’ complete with choir, and the jaunty ‘Pomona’s Hardy Son’. On top of all that there are three songs that deserve to be outright classics - ‘Blue Orkney Sky’, the poetic ‘The Night Over Kirkwall Was Still’ and the catchy ‘Notes From An Island’ which manage to weave all the threads of the county into one great tapestry. This is the work of an artist clearly at the peak of his career, comfortable in himself and the world around him. It is a truly marvellous listening experience that tugs at so many strings; a must for all Orcadians and those who love Orkney. This is Ivan Drever’s best collection of songs to date. If you buy only one album this year … buy this one! JRS CONTACT : info@ivandrever.com |
