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Inside Out [Release Date: 01.03.24]
When David Longdon tragically died in an accident at his home in 2021, Big Big Train, one of the finest folk/prog bands this country has produced, were shattered to the core.
How could they continue without his consummate multi-instrumentalism – flute, keyboards, guitar, mandolin – but particularly his distinctive vocals, which underpinned classic albums such as ‘The Underfall Yard’, ‘English Electric’, ‘Grimspound’ and the exceptional ‘Folklore’?
Founder member Greg Spawton and drummer Nick D’Vigillio had seen Alberto Bravin performing with Italian progressive rock band PFM and Spawton noted his name for a possible solo project he was contemplating.
Long story short, Bravin was approached to join BBT as vocalist – also adding guitar and keyboards – quickly accepted, and the band assembled in Trieste (Bravin’s home town) to assimilate the band members in the studio and lay down the basic tracks for what was to become ‘The Likes Of Us’.
The band knew that Longdon was a hard act to follow and that it would be pointless to try and find a vocalist that sounded like him – and, to their immense credit, they haven’t tried to.
The telling thing is, ‘The Likes Of Us’ is unmistakably a Big Big Train album – different for sure, but with all the components in place that made us fall in love with them in the first place.
If there was any doubt, after just thirty six seconds of the fabulous opening track ‘Light Left In The Day’ that signature Northern brass band sound appears – as if to calm the fears of long-time fans that everything was going to be fine.
And fine it is, as the album veers from the rock bombast of ‘Oblivion’, the violin and piano-led ‘Love Is The Light’, the classic BBT tropes of ‘Bookmarks’, the almost throwaway ‘Skates On’ and the upbeat closer ‘Last Eleven’ which features great drumming from D’Virgillio and a beautiful wind-down of picked acoustics and vocal cadences.
The real highlights however are the two ‘epics’ – ‘Miramare’ developed by Spawton as a full-blown musical novel from an idea by Bravin following a visit to a castle in Spain, and, particularly, ‘Beneath The Masts’ based on Spawton’s childhood in the Midlands, which has just about everything in its seventeen minutes plus – gently strummed acoustics, violin, that wonderful brass band again, a cacophonous, kitchen-sink-and-all middle section, guitar solos, then a gentle flute/piano coda. Lovely.
It’s great to see the whole band working together and making Bravin’s debut such a success. There ARE differences and you would expect that following Longdon’s passing – but there is also a warm glow of familiarity, that, to existing fans, will be a relief.
But this is the sound of a band moving on, and, rather like AC/DC’s enforced change following Bon Scott’s passing, you can still move forwards with one eye in the rear-view mirror.
Exceptional. *****
Review by Alan Jones
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