Having already released three songs from debut album, ‘A Larum’, its release was highly anticipated, there’s no Cajun Dance Party skimping either, 14 three minute plus songs. The Box came first both as single and on A Larum and is very much a different being on A Larum to what we encountered a year ago. On A Larum, the feel is almost unrecognisable, the preened, produced 3 minutes of 2007 ousted for a lo-fi, organic, slower sound. This sets the tone for the whole of A Larum, taking on the whole essence of the anti-folk movement. Johnny Flynn is not contained and restricted to just some rootsy folk songs with the odd ballad thrown in but expands into full-blown country and bluesy soundtracks to his Shakespearian influenced poetry.
The combination of poetry on this very canvas evoke comparisons to the Josh Ritter’s of this world, Cold Bread especially with its mass of words over the simplicity of a strummed banjo, punchy distorted drums and the vocal recording would slot unnoticed into Ritter’s The Historical Conquests Of. Tickle Me Pink, the latest single, encapsulates Flynn’s wit and take on songwriting with lines such as ‘don’t know where I can buy a heart/the one I’ve got is shoddy/I need a brand new body/well then I can have a brand new start’, Flynn seems unconventional compared to modern day, mainstream, songwriters, Fionn Regan appears the one and only on his wave length of lyrics.
Flynn’s voice sounds like many of his contemporaries such as Noah and the Whale and the female harmonies emphasise this connection, although Noah and the Whale perhaps have slightly more clout on this matter what with Emmy The Great and Laura Marling both having been a part of N.A.T.W but nevertheless, it adds a good depth and contrast to A Larum. Flynn’s crooning voice and lyrics belie his 25 years, but whilst Flynn excels as a lyricist, his melodies often resemble the next and the one before, leading A Larum to become slightly predictable. You can also at times question some of the songs admittance onto A Larum; Shore to Shore could so easily have been a B-side along with All the Dogs Lying Down. But all the same Flynn has made an album on a par with, much more interesting than even, the girl he had been supporting earlier this year, Laura Marling’s ‘Alas I cannot Swim’.
7/10
