Three Cane Whale is talented English trio, Alex Vann, Pete Judge and Paul Bradley. Each member is a multi-instrumentalist, highly skilled on a number of instruments including mandolin, guitar, music box, trumpet, harmonium, glockenspiel and harp.
Their eponymous debut from 2011 was a successful first effort and in 2012, singer-turned radio presenter (for BBC Radio 6 Music), Cerys Matthews, chose it as one of her Top Five Modern Folk Albums.
Album number three (2013’s Holts and Hovers was their second), produced by Adrian Utley of Portishead, opens with the short trumpet burst of “Standing Sun Fanfare” before moving on to “Moon in a Bottle,” an enchanting blend of classical music and folk that beautifully evokes the natural setting from which this threesome sprung.
What sounds like a babbling brook can be heard on the gentle “Red Bank,” the three musicians again showing their musical prowess. The trumpet makes a welcome return on “Roads of the Sky,” while “Brute Angels” carries on the use of brass with a lone tuba mournfully leading the way.
The album is 21 tracks of varying length and tone (other standout moments include “The Bronze Sounding,” “A Magic of Strange Welcome,” “Shadows on the Chalk Hills” and “Winchester Geese”) and while I certainly admire the creativity and originality on show, I’m not sure this is a release I’d ever listen to on a regular basis, unless I was able to one day buy a house in the unparalleled serenity of the English countryside.
Palimpsest will be available to buy or download from January 8.
More of the band’s music can be purchased from their iTunes page.
For more information on Three Cane Whale, visit their official website.
