Album review: BIG BIG TRAIN – Woodcut
InsideOut Music [Release date 06.02.26]
Woodcut is the sixteenth studio album from Big Big Train, the progressive rock band originally formed back in 1990. It sees a band that has had more than its fair share of line up changes over those 36 years seemingly settled as an international multi-instrumental seven piece consisting of Alberto Bravin (Lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Nick D’Virgilio (Drums, percussion, 12-string acoustic guitar, vocals), Oskar Holldorff (Keyboards, vocals), Clare Lindley (Violin, acoustic guitar, vocals), Paul Mitchell (Trumpet, piccolo trumpet, vocals), Rikard Sjöblom (Guitars, keyboards, vocals) and Gregory Spawton (Bass, bass pedals, 12-string acoustic guitar, Mellotron, vocals).
Surprisingly, despite several previous releases having followed a loose theme, Woodcut is their first full blown concept album, the subject of which was initially inspired by a visit Spawton and Bravin made to the Edvard Munch Museum in Oslo.
The resulting story follows a character, dubbed The Artist, who is a disillusioned woodcarver, weighed down by feelings of failure and close to giving everything up. But he makes one more carving, one that draws him in until he finds himself inhabiting and exploring the world he has created with his own hands. It is this voyage of doubt, uncertainty, mystery, danger and eventual understanding of how to face the real world that the narrative leads us through.
Naturally, the lyrics are bound to take on a greater importance within such a concept and you find yourself drawn in, alongside The Artist, as the music envelops you and the lyrics guide you, until you are completely immersed in the story. The lyric writing, incidentally, is shared out between Bravin, Spawton, D’Virgilio and Lindley, with the latter making a particularly significant contribution to the storyline.
The album is produced and arranged by Bravin, who was tasked with editing, then weaving together, several hundred musical ideas sent in by the rest of the band, all the while conscious of a time limit, around sixty minutes, which had been decided upon. Spawton, who would usually be expected to take on these tasks is magnanimous in his praise for Bravin’s work, saying in a recent interview, ‘I’m in awe of what he did for this (album)’. There may be sixteen individual tracks on the album but, Bravin has curated them in such a way that once you press play you cannot help but be in for the duration and it is nigh on impossible to walk away.
Musically, the whole album is an outstanding collective effort by everyone aboard the Train and it seems wrong to highlight any one person’s efforts above the rest but, I have to mention Rikard Sjöblom. There’s a distinctly rocky edge to this record and the guitarist is outstanding throughout, hard rocking riffs that wouldn’t be out of pace on a metal album alongside evocative solos that bring the hairs up on the back of your neck.
Vocals, again, are shared out amongst this group of ridiculously talented musicians but Bravin’s spine-tingling voice is dominant throughout and, at times, simply sensational. He has that innate ability to ring every last drop of emotion out of a song and leave you, the listener, wondering how that piece of dust ended up in your eye. Bravo, Alberto!
And then, there’s the music! From the gentle, haunting, classical strings and woodwind opening of ‘Inkwell Black’, through the bonkers time signatures and harmony gymnastics of ‘Warp And Weft’ to the out and out rock of ‘Cut and Run’, this is exactly what Progressive Rock should be, at times complex and demanding of attention but at no point pretentious. Every track grabs your attention leaving you eager to hear what comes next but, the highlights include: ‘The Artist’ which introduces both the lyrical and melodic themes to come and gives each of the band a chance to introduce themselves, closing with solos from Mitchell and Sjöblom. Lindley’s lead vocal on her own composition, the dark, folk inspired ‘The Sharpest Blade’, is perfectly matched to the melody below while Spawton’s ‘Chimaera’ could only be a Big Big Train song, with layers of 12 string guitars and a stirring vocal cameo from Holldorff. And then there is the closing pair of ‘Counting Stars’ and ‘Last Stand’. The former features more stunning work from Sjöblom with Bravin reflecting that, ‘you can choose any path but, aim for the heights’ while the latter is the epic finale this album deserves, leaving you breathlessly hoping for more.
Woodcut is, quite simply, a perfect, magnificent, triumphant, masterpiece. The band, as a whole, have produced something extraordinarily special here and I tip my hat to them. Bravo, Big Big Train, bravo! *****
Review by Neil Pudney
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