Three Cane Whale

This is a quite beautiful and challenging album. Beautiful because the playing is exquisite, challenging because while it ostensibly dabbles with folk and traditional music, it’s also incredibly cinematic in places, homely, and irritating - that’s Shadows on the Chalk Hills.

The trio that make up Three Cane Whale are Alex Vann, Peter Judge and Paul Bradley all multi-instrumentalists from a variety of backgrounds folk, jazz, musical theatre and punk, though the latter is not really musically relevant to this album.

At 21 tracks it may look like a slog but many are under two minutes – a few under a minute- and none over five so it doesn’t outstay its welcome. And you do wonder if some these could have done with some fleshing out a little. Gurney’s Oak has touch of early Oldfield about it and the brass is introduced over the guitar you feel on the brink, then it ends.

Having said that the music – which was recorded live with no overdubs - flows smoothly with nary a passing rapid. There are moments of sublimity as on Brute Angels, complemented by the more eccentric tracks such as Miniature III which could have been used for a Hammer House of Horror episode. And many of the tracks do have a certain 70’s TV ring about them specifically the animations of Postgate and Firmin and their highly original minimalist themes and cues.

Palimpsest is not an easy album from which to pick out tracks or highlights as it is the sum of its parts and doesn’t lend itself to cherry-picking. If you are in a pastoral mood this could be for you.