Pilgrims’ Way - Wayside Courtesies

Following on from their EP release, and having impressed festival audiences this year, Pilgrims’ Way release their debut full-length album.

Wayside Courtesies is a bold manifesto of a music full of respect for the tradition, and comfortable enough with it to change things around and produce an eclectic result.

Lucy Wright has a vibrant and engaging voice, whilst Tom and Edwin handle their multifarious instruments with skill and aplomb. It is also an unusual joy to hear the Jew’s Harp on a number of tracks.

The record begins with Only a Soldier, a song where the soldier in question does win the girl, and the fortune, and the grudging respect of his father-in-law!

Martinmas Time and Tarry Trousers, two quite different songs, share the theme of cross-dressing, which the band seem quite keen to pull out in the sleeve notes. Indeed, the notes are a wonderful insight into the playful attitude of the band. We also discover that 67% of the band agree that Young Men Are False.

At over nine minutes My Generous Lover/Det Tømte Mjødkruset is an epic combination. Both are tinged with sadness: My Generous Lover overtly so in the lyrics and performance. Det Tømte Mjødkruset appears upbeat and is certainly enjoyable, but translates as ’the empty jug of homebrew beer’; a sad thing indeed.

The outstanding tracks of the album are, in fact, both from the EP - Tarry Trousers and A Pilgrim’s Way. But that shouldn’t be a deflection from the quality and variety of the rest of the album. There is a good variety of light and shade, tragic and light-hearted and most certainly enough to keep the listener entertained.