Album review: MILTON HIDE – The Holloway

Website [Release date 31.03.23]

Milton Hide (AKA husband and wife Jim and Josie Tipler) release their second album, ‘The Holloway’, following on from 2o21′s most enjoyable ‘Temperature’s Rising’. Since then they have played many a show up and down the UK honing their music and sound in the process.

On ‘The Holloway’ Milton Hide aimed to capture the atmosphere of an acoustic band playing right in front of you. Jim Tipler: “We are so proud of Temperature’s Rising and felt it would be very hard to top it. So we thought, as we are an acoustic act, we’d present these songs as if we’re performing just for you, the listener. We approached Phil Jones of Long Way Home Music, who we felt would keep us on track”

“We write songs in order to perform them to an audience” added Josie “so all of these songs have been performed live already. That meant that the arrangements were pretty much in place. But recording is very very different to performing live – there is nowhere to hide.”

There is very little overdubbing and indeed a couple of the tracks are recorded as a single live take. The only other performers are producer Phil Jones who plays bass and bodhran, Simon Yapp on violin & viola and Bruce Knapp on electric guitar.

‘Widow’s Revenge’ is the lead single off the album. It is tradtional folk fare being the tale of a woman wrongly accused of being a witch who returns to wreak her revenge. The singing of Josie is ably complemented by the acoustic guitar, backing vocals and errie finale.

‘Anning’s Fossil Depot’ is one of those songs that folk music does so well, shining a light on a person or events in history that have been overlooked. In this case 18th century palaeontologist Mary Anning and her contribution to science that has only been fully recognised in relatively recent years.

Another true life song, ‘The Happiest Man On Earth’, has a gentle country rock feel and is a tribute to a book of the same name by Eddi Jaku. Auschwitz survivor, Eddi, was an inspirational speaker, having vowed to be the happiest man on earth as a mark of respect for all of those lost in the holocaust.

Jim Timpler takes lead vocal on ‘Cuckmere’ with a soothing melody, featuring wistful clarinet, making for one of the album’s highlights. The title track is a lovely clarinet led instrumental. The clarinet playing of Rosie is also a key feature of ‘Sparkle Jar’. The song comes from the book of the same name by Chris Packham and evokes in music and lyrics a young person’s marvel at the wonders of the natural world.

Milton Hide have taken a leap of faith on ‘The Holloway’ by going for the ‘less is more’ approach and it has worked impressively. The fact they have performed live many times helps greatly in creating the warm, inviting acoustic sound on the album. Another fine folk album from this talented duo. ****

Review by Jason Ritchie

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)