Flames On The Water - McCalmans (The)

There's no getting around it. The McCalmans are not to everyone's taste. Three middle-aged Scottish folk singers wearing jumpers and jeans and (at this point in their history) the inevitable scruffy beards. By their own admission, there are better singers and better instrumentalists out there. And this is not a folk-rock band; this is a folk band. If that thought makes you shudder, you might be best off going elsewhere. But if it doesn't, you may ...
...the Macs are is consistent. Consistently good, consistently enjoyable. This is fun, passionate and approachable music, and just because there are no drum kits (or at least, not very many...) doesn't mean they don't have a tremendous energy and edge. These are musicians who have decades of experience between them, and haven't lost any of their drive. In various line-ups the Macs have been touring for over 40 years, and in 2006 won Live Act of the ... more

There's no getting around it. The McCalmans are not to everyone's taste. Three middle-aged Scottish folk singers wearing jumpers and jeans and (at this point in their history) the inevitable scruffy beards. By their own admission, there are better singers and better instrumentalists out there. And this is not a folk-rock band; this is a folk band. If that thought makes you shudder, you might be best off going elsewhere. But if it doesn't, you may be in for a treat.

What the Macs are is consistent. Consistently good, consistently enjoyable. This is fun, passionate and approachable music, and just because there are no drum kits (or at least, not very many...) doesn't mean they don't have a tremendous energy and edge. These are musicians who have decades of experience between them, and haven't lost any of their drive. In various line-ups the Macs have been touring for over 40 years, and in 2006 won Live Act of the Year award at the Scots Trad Music Awards in Fort William. They know what they're good at - and yet after 40 years they're still willing to take risks.

Flames on the Water is one such risk. There are no traditional songs here. Most McCalmans albums give the listener a couple of tracks written by Scottish songwriters. Here everything is by a Scottish songwriter, and penned within the last 20-30 years or so.

This gives the album far more of a political edge - the title Flames on the Water itself is a line from the track "Who Pays the Piper", Nancy Nicolson's sad and bitter response to the Piper Alpha disaster of 1990. From an entertaining swipe at the nuclear industry in "Ah'm E Man At Muffed It" to the harsh irony of "Devolution Anthem" to the more conventional protest sounds (and South African rhythms) of "Hawks and Eagles", this is the Macs showing a lot of a side that only emerges occasionally in their other work. Personally, I love it. :-)

There is beauty here too, and love, and loss. Above all variety - although admittedly some songs work better than others.

This album features what in my view is the golden McCalmans line-up of Ian McCalman, Nick Keir and Derek Moffatt. Which is not to undermine Stephen Quigg, who joined the band after Derek's death in 2001: Stephen is arguably an even better singer (and certainly a more confident one) than was Derek. But the blend of the three voices here is beyond anything that The McCalmans have achieved since Derek's death. In a cappella tracks such as "Sounding" it is positively sublime.

1. "Ah'm E Man At Muffed it." Words and music by Nancy Nicolson. Not the most accessible of the tracks, and in some ways an odd one to start with, as this is a comedy number in Scots, and quite a silly one - though with more than an edge of seriousness. The music (complete with accordion as well as the inevitable guitars and whistles) is cheerful and bouncy, and the singing features Ian McCalman's patented "naive old Scotsman" voice, as a variety of ingenious crofter-fishermen steal nuclear tubes from the nearby plant and turn them into useful items - as a fisherman's float, a microwave and so on. (MUF stands for Material Unaccounted For on nuclear sites - hence "Muffed It".) Fun, amusing and disturbingly jolly given the subject matter. It certainly forces the listener to pay attention to the lyrics for the rest of the album!

2. "Isle of Eigg" Words and music by Robin Laing. I said there was beauty on this album, and here is some! Simply and sweetly sung by Nick Keir, with the other two supplying occasional backing vocals. It features The McCalmans' signature rippling guitar accompaniment, with a light bit of soft fiddling. The song describes the first few months of a love affair, blooming quietly in the town of Arisaig, and overlooked by the Isle of Eigg from across the water. My one criticism here is that occasionally the brisk pace feels uncomfortable - I know this song quite well and I think it works best somewhat slower. This is a matter of taste though, and it's still a fine track.

3. "Devolution Anthem" Words and music by Ian McCalman. The first track on this album written by one of the Macs, and possibly the most political, as it is a blistering attack on the rule of Scotland from Westminster. In as much as it pre-dates and calls for devolution, it has lost some of its relevance, and the words do not allow for much interpretation - if you are not of the opinion that Scotland had a hard time prior to devolution, this track isn't going to appeal all that much. Musically this is a spoof national anthem, complete with drumrolls, an attempt at imitating choral singing (here the good blend between the voices really helps), and a fake organ!

4. "Farewell Tae the Haven". Words and music by Davy Steele. No McCalmans album would be complete without a lament for small fishermen. This is not one of the most remarkable musically, and it is perhaps a little over-orchestrated, but there is a pretty wistfulness in the melody contrasting with the dark resignation of the words, and it's nice to see Ian McCalman using his extremely good voice for more than comic effect (he is, after all, the one who has had some classical training...).

5. "Sounding". Words and music by Stewart Brown. A hymn to the great whales, and a song of regret for the damage done by whaling and pollution. Mostly unaccompanied and (as I mentioned earlier) showcasing the sheer power and trueness of the three voices blending in harmony, this is simple, haunting, devastating. I've heard it so many times now and it still sends shivers up my spine. Towards the end the lyrics take a turn for the hopeful and determined that I challenge anyone to resist.

6. "Hawks and Eagles Fly Like Doves" Words and music by Ian Walker. A protest against the South African apartheid regime and as such (like "Devolution Anthem"), arguably (and happily!) outdated. This song stands far more on its own merits though. A South African-style tune, the lyrics expressing rage against oppression and in particular against the 1985 massacre on Uitenhaage Hill. I'm not convinced that the Macs' interpretation of the song works entirely. Like the guitars that *almost* sound like steel drums, their voices just aren't quite suited to the medium, and the overall effect is somewhat odd. It is still very well worth the listening to though, and kudos to them for taking on something so far out of their usual comfort zone. Derek Moffatt provides lead vocals, and (despite those reservations) is excellent as always.

7. "The Siege" Words and music by Nick Keir. Nick is by some way the best songwriter of the Macs, and this is one of my favourites of his works. The song is inspired partly by "The Tales of Baron Münchhausen", and is a moving and charming story of the triumph of innocence and courage over hatred and fear. A little girl in a walled city under siege is the first to realise - apparently by instinct - that the enemy has inexplicably left, and that freedom and peace are waiting for them. Nick provides lead vocals in his clear, pleasant voice, with a rippling yet driven guitar accompaniment and the occasional floating counter-melody on the tin whistle. Beautiful. :-)

8. "Who Pays the Piper" Words and music by Nancy Nicolson. As mentioned above, this was written in response to the Piper Alpha oil disaster in 1990, and generally in tribute to the dangers faced by oil-rig workers - and the lack of real care shown them by those who make money from them. The sorrow and anger show through a plain and pretty melody, nicely instrumented with bowed strings as well as guitars. Derek again provides lead vocals, and his sweet, calm tones somehow emphasise the pain of the lyrics.

9. "Festival Lights" Words and music by Nick Keir. Arguably the break-out track of the album, certainly another of Nick's best. As the lyrics say, "[E]veryone's written a song/Which says you've been on the road/Been on the road so long". This is his. :-) A gentle, aching homesickness for autumn in Edinburgh while on tour in the Netherlands, coming across a beautiful melody and gorgeous instrumentation (this is by far the best use of bowed strings on the album).

10. "Shian Road" Words and music by Ian McCalman. A bittersweet song of his parents and their love of the Shian region of Scotland; a very involving evocation of how deeply certain places can affect certain people - especially in the Highlands of Scotland! As is somehow appropriate for a song about the memories of "walking the lonely Shian Road", this song feels like a walking song, albeit one with fine guitar and harmonica accompaniment! The pace is right for it, the pretty, repetitive melody one that would be easy enough to sing on a long hike on a narrow, bumpy road.

11. "Men O'Worth" Words and music by Archie Fisher. Has perhaps the most traditional Scottish folk feel of the tracks on this album, and a welcome use of a bodhran, a fiddle and Derek's vocal skills! You could dance to this. :-) The lyrics describe the calling of fishermen from their nets to work at the new industries growing up in Aberdeen and the surrounding area. The objection of one fisherman "but how shall I feed my family when the company moves away?" is, in context, desperately (and deliberately) ironic. But the politics here take second place to an urgent, glorious pace, fine singing and uplifting instrumental work.

12. "Curtain Call" Words and music by Janet Russell. A surprisingly downbeat ending to the album. Nick again provides lead vocals in what in what for the Macs is rather a sentimental love song, complete with a piano accompaniment that is almost (though not quite) a little overwhelming. Luckily Nick's pretty, simple delivery keeps things in check, and the undercurrents in the lyrics of the end of a gig and the end of the temporary relationship between performer and audience are far from lost.

So, to conclude?

I recommend this to all existing fans of The McCalmans, and of Scottish folk music generally. And if you are not completely averse to such things, I can confidently suggest that you give it a try - though don't expect this album to be truly typical of The McCalmans' output. 

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