Back in October 2022 Joshua Burnell and band recorded their homecoming show at The Crescent in York, and they may even have surprised themselves with the result.
Burnell is an artist who is always thinking ahead, and while this show was part of the tour promoting the album, ‘Flowers Where The Horses Sleep’, he isn’t afraid to mix up the setlist with new material and work it out live with the band before recording it.
The bombastic opening track, ‘Where Planets Collide’ is a fine example. Taken from at the time unreleased album, ‘Glass Knight’ it rushes the audience headlong into the show and sets the tone for the exciting mix of fan favorites and new material that follows.
Other early versions in the setlist include, ‘Lucy’ and ‘Looking Glass’. Both destined to become future fan favorites.
The concert perfectly captures a band who are musically at the top of their game as they rip through Burnell’s magical genre busting songs.
The audience lap up the new material, but really get into the classics such as ‘Sing For The Island’, ‘Plane Tree & Tenpenny Bit’, and ‘Tam Lin’.
The live recording has been expertly mixed, produced and is a joy to the ears. If only all live albums could sound this good! Perhaps hinting a future musical direction two as yet unrecorded songs, ‘Slow Burning Cigarette’ (featuring haunting vocal from Frances Sladen) and ‘Some Things Aren’t Eroded’ also sit comfortably in the setlist.
As live albums go this one is excellent and well worth investing your time in. Fans will love it, and for the Joshua Burnell novice, it is the perfect introduction to the work of this amiable and creative artist who flourishes in front of an audience.