Nic Norton and The County Band – Last Orders
Norwich's Nic Norton returns with another engaging and original collection
Norwich's Nic Norton returns with another engaging and original collection – narrative slices of county life spun into lyrical form with observational finesse, and a warmth and fondness for the characters who inspire these songs.
Five of the songs featured on Nic's previously released Brief Lives EP, and these nestle amidst eight new compositions, continuing in the same vein of traditional story-telling, albeit sometimes with a contemporary twist, and featuring themes of love, regret and shame.
Joining the County Band and taking lead vocals on many of the new songs is Alice Mills – now also recounting the wry tale of The Happiest Man in The World, the song that she co-wrote with Norton, and that originally appeared on Brief Lives. Her presence adds a freshness and lightness of touch that complements perfectly the slightly darker Cave-Cohen melancholic style that Norton does so well. This, and the sweet fiddle playing of Mollie Narayn-Barrow, moves Last Orders into the territory of country as much as county, but the result is an undeniable pleasure.
And let us not forget the comic delight of bonus track Spangler Mortuary, a sparkling ditty that ensures that this album should be remembered in all our Last Orders.
8/10
