Once upon a time, about 2008 to be more exact, Johnny Flynn, along with Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling and Noah and the Whale, spearheaded the young ‘folk’ movement, a decisive rebellion against the purity and sometimes sanctity of ye olde English folk. We’d been here before, of course. Eliza Carthy and Seth Lakeman had done something similar a few years back. But they were, in essence, the old guard hopping onto a gathering appetite for real folk, but in a modern context. Both those artists subsequently signed major label deals, and both were dropped quickly thereafter, the majors of course realising that we weren’t about to go back to the golden era of folk-rock a la Fairport Convention and The Incredible String Band. Real folk music, or close approximations thereof, works best within the confines of independence, and the elaborate network of cottage industries that have sprung up over the years. It’s why Topic Records, a folk label, is still going very strong and is by far the oldest surviving independent label in the world. They totally understand folk, and its limitations, in the traditional sense. Unsurprisingly, Eliza Carthy, who is a relatively modernist folk musician, eventually found her way back ‘home’ and is currently releasing records via them.

But I digress. Flynn et al weren’t folk purists, copyists or plagiarisers. They didn’t come from ‘folk’ families. They just appreciated the aesthetic possibilities of folk, were very adept at writing songs that sounded a little bit folksy, and combined this with that all important image; a kind of distressed bohemia, one that still resonates on the streets of Brighton to this day. But, all the aforementioned newbies were all simply great songwriters and architects of a sound that transcended musical borders. Indie-folk, nu-folk, alt-folk, folk-rock, whatever-you-want-to-call-it-folk. In the fashion of Fairport Convention of the late 60s, and The Levellers of the 90s, these artists adapted folk into a contemporary sound and attitude that resonated wide and deep. Fashionable, yes. But, it’s a fashion that proved to be highly durable and meaningful beyond what the current fads are.

Nu-folk didn’t quite make it into the wider public consciousness, despite an extraordinary number of acclaimed artists. Noah and the Whale quickly dipped out of folk and into more alt-rock pastures, Mumford’s decided to don leather jackets, and even Marling draping a little latex number on the cover of her new album. Johnny Flynn, meanwhile, continues to fly the flag for the school of ’08. Not only that but his time has finally come. Less outgoing than many of his peers, there is nevertheless a classical bearing about him that has found favour on the stage, on film and on TV. While his career as a musician was artistically enriching, but commercially impoverishing, over the last few years he has become something of a minor star. To the extent that this Brighton date on his UK tour sold out months ago, and that this album is expected to be by far and away his biggest commercial success. Social media and YouTube have been alive with comments that inform the casual reader they were brought to his music via his roles in such-as-such (most likely his lead role in the rom-com TV series Lovesick). His past associations with Mumford & Sons and Laura Marling have also helped immeasurably in this age of video saturation and instant information.

But what of Sillion? It’s his first album for four years as his acting career properly took off (he was a trained actor before he ever released a note). Indeed, much of Sillion was recorded while he was starring in Martin McDonagh’s play Hangman. “I was playing a psychopath,” Flynn has explained, “so there’s probably some of that darkness in the lyrics, and a celebration that you can explore the baseness of human nature.” This is apparent on the foreboding ’In The Deepest’, which grew out of a film score commission. But, Sillion is much more than that. As well as the songs of the personal, such as the funereal yet celebratory lead track ‘Raising the Dead’, which intermingles thoughts on the death of his father – when Johnny was 18 – with his recent elevation to that of fatherhood himself, there are more political moments than we are normally accustomed to with Flynn. Such as the rallying Fairport Convention-esque ‘Barleycorn’, Flynn’s take on the traditional English folk song of a similar name, and which Flynn says is about the ritualistic killing of Sir John Barleycorn and predates the Christian story of the slaying of Christ. That sense of mob rule is enhanced by the use of an extremely old and crackly recording of Alfred Lord Tennyson reading the Charge of the Light Brigade to capture, Flynn says, “the rumble and drama of the people coming over the hill.” And ‘Jefferson’s Torch’ touches on themes of revolutions and radical change in the socio-political sphere.

And there’s more uber-crackly sounds on the personal ‘Heart Sunk Hank’, a tribute to his wife and partially recorded in a Voice-o-Graph, a recording booth popular in the 40s, and which apparently strictly limits wannabe recording artists to two minutes to get it down! ‘In Your Pockets’ is also a tribute to his wife, one who he probably doesn’t see as much as yer average Joe due to his dual careers as a touring musician, and treading-the-boards actor. Inspired by folk musician Nic Jones’ ‘Ten Thousand Miles’, (Flynn’s wife apparently hated this song), it’s nevertheless a loving letter to his wife, one he has known since they were at school.

Elsewhere, the theme of Sillion is about our continued striving to connect with the planet, as epitomised by ‘Wandering Aengus’, named after a William Butler Yeats’ poem, and which depicts a wanderer taking in the natural landscape around him, while ‘Tarp in the Prop’ is a collaboration with writer Robert McFarlane, the song/poem emanating from their walk along the River Lea when they encountered a couple stranded on a boat, the man shouting ‘There’s a tarp in the prop!’

There is a strong smell of earthiness throughout Sillion (which is a rare English word relating to thick and voluminous soil), aided by Flynn’s deeper dive into the musical lexicon of folk as well as hints of country and indie, aided by his lovely understated voice that is at once controlled and yet homely. And with a fine band (The Sussex Wit) that tastefully adds textures, colour (including a bit of brass, and fingerpicked cello) as well as unfussy beats and rhythms, in creating appropriate breathing spaces, Flynn has produced a work that effortlessly measures up to his new found popularity.
Jeff Hemmings

Website: johnny-flynn.com
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