Folk trio, Granny’s Attic, go all out instrumental on album #3.

Release Date: 8th October 2021

Label: Grimdon Records

Format: digital / CD

We reviewed the last album by Granny’s Attic, Wheels Of The World back when At The Barrier was just emerging so we feel a bit of an affinity with the band. Yet the Brickfields provides an alternative view of the folk power trio.

Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne, Lewis Wood and George Sansome have shifted the goalposts on an album that’s entirely made up of instrumental music. ‘Tunes’ is how the folk fraternity refer to them and The Brickfields provides a bulging sackful of traditional and original pieces gathered together during, yes, the lockdown. It’s a return to the roots of the band. The simple joy of musical interaction and the equal joy in having the chance to once again get together in the same room to play and record is captured superbly by Ian Stephenson.

In fact, the nine pieces that make the cut are the cream that’s risen to the surface of an abundance that runs to thirty tracks which the trio put together for this project. Perhaps a Brickfields 2 or Return To The Brickfields may be in order in the not too distant future, knowing the quality that these three young men plough into their work.

The conscious decision to go all out instrumental pays dividends. Swinging between the traditional tunes and their own originals, varying the tempos from sprightly to stately and injecting a splash of ‘danceability’ all come neatly packaged in The Brickfields. Allowing each player to take a turn to take a chance to shine comes naturally as one or another steps briefly into the spotlight. Considerate Birders is a perfect example, yet it’s the now established interaction – the chemistry – between the three that stands proud. It’s that sound that’s been captured n The Brickfields as the trio play together in the studio.

As the Autumn leaves are falling and the temperature plummets, the sound of Granny’s Attic jiving on a tune is a warming reminder of English Summer days. Instead of brown and yellow leaves, the tunes offer the warmth of the sun on your back and sitting amidst a landscape of bright greens. There’s a genuine rustic feel that comes through on The Brickfields as we encounter Queen’s Wood and the contrast that comes with the clever pairing of Highfield’s Lament (that does as you’d expect) that eases into the gentle flow of 200 Miles South West. The Brickfields sees them signing out in the blur of fingers and flurry of notes that give Watt’s Reel the folk equivalent of Heavy Metal guitar shredding.

They aren’t spectacular and showy, more humble and unassuming, but by heck the young men in Granny’s Attic, together or apart, are a trio set to burn brightly for decades to come.

Here’s a clip of Granny’s Attic at Beardy Folk Festival in 2020:

Granny’s Attic online:  Website / Facebook / Twitter /  Bandcamp / YouTube

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