Reimagining songs from his 2022 album Island Family, the Small Isles polymath Johnny Lynch strips out the broken beats and vocodered chants, digging into the heart of the songs and bringing delicacy to the fore.
The raucous energy of that album is given space to stare into the distance: opening track ‘Island Family (Summer Redux)’ centres around harp arpeggios from Gillian Fleetwood and the windswept walk to a grave marked with a bench and a bottle. The seasons pass on ‘Melody Something’ with a minimal hollowness, drawn along by the undercurrent of Semay Wu’s cello and a wistful vocal.
It’s not an ‘open mic night’ version, though – stepping to the side a little on these songs, Lynch puts the focus on Susan Bear’s production and the glorious swell of the musicians together finding something special in the essence of these songs, a melancholy that was always there, even though two years ago maybe he wasn’t ready to look it directly in the eye.
Follow Footsteps is out now on Lost Map. Available to buy/stream here.
Main Photo Credit: Stephanie Gibson
