Anyone who has shared stages with the great and good of the roots world, not just Eliza but also Martin Carthy, and also the likes of Paul Simmonds of The Men They Couldn’t Hang, (legends in my eyes) Martin Stephenson, Chris Wood and Julie Felix, is undoubtedly an artist that deserves seriously checking out. And if you do so via his latest album, Let The Truth Be Known, you will immerse yourself in a rich and rewarding sonic experience.
“Waiting For the Tide To Change” sets the tone perfectly. It is a deftly wrought album opener that sits somewhere between the Old World and the New, a perfect bridge between traditional British folk and contemporary Americana. It is a gentle acoustic piece colored with drifting harmonica and additional layers of guitar. By the time you have soaked this all in, you’re committed, and Jim Chorley has you under his spell.
“Heaven Help Me” is more East Nashville than South…hampton, the place he calls home, a shimmering blend of steel pedal and subtle vocals, nuanced and delicate, “Wilder Than Wind” is a gorgeous, lyrically poetic waltz, and “Paris” is an upbeat celebration of a time, a place, a feeling, an emotion.
If Let The Truth Be Known has a theme, it is hope, it is a sonic ode to remaining grounded in the eye of the storm of modern life, it is of personal re-birth and learning to love yourself and be happy with who you are.
And more than that, it is not only the sound of an artist constantly honing down their craft and incremently raising their own sonic benchmarks, it is a snapshot of where roots music finds itself today. And on the strength of this album, it finds itself in pretty good shape.
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