Folk music has been undergoing a revival of late, but popularity is not always a good thing, and in this instance, those folk traditions have often been too readily co-opted and embraced by acoustic popsters, folktronic purveyors and indie soundscapers, not always to the most satisfying ends.
This is why you have to admire artists such as Ben Heyworth and his contemporary blend of urban folk music, which takes everything great about the folk sound and threads through it very chart-friendly and instantly accessible sonics.
And urban folk is precisely the correct term, for he gathers around him tales of city life, in his case Manchester, UK, and the characters and denizens who make their life there, like “Narrowboat” which sees him gently contemplate the fate of the city’s once-thriving canals and waterways, now, sadly, merely a nice urban feature. I, too, have walked alongside those same industrial relics and thought similar thoughts.
“Image of Roads” takes things more upbeat but still erring on the side of spacious and understated; here, he talks of an American road trip, but as the song eats up the miles, we are still never sure if this is real or imagined. Not that it matters; it’s a great song either way.
We end as we started, in the realms of the lilting and the lovely, “Creature Double Feature,” sees him looking in the mirror and wondering who it is looking back.
These three deft and often delicate songs serve as a reminder that all genres, even the long-established ones, especially the long-established ones, need to evolve, move with the times, stay relevant. This is the sound of folk doing so with the most sure-footed of musical steps.
Website
Soundcloud
Youtube
Instagram
