MERRY HELL - RISING OF THE BOLD

In troubled times, these sounds are our weapon - 5/5 ⭐

The clue is in the title, this is most definitely Merry Hell's boldest album to date, rising to new heights, with an incredible amount of depth, layer and harmony. This is unlike any previous Merry Hell album, and is their most accomplished and fully fledged sound to date, stunning.

Merry Hell's eighth album was born out of a long weekend in Shropshire, where the five song writers were able to introduce their new tunes to all eight members of the band:

Virginia Kettle - Vocals and Guitar, Andrew Kettle - Vocals, John Kettle - Vocals and Guitar. Bob Kettle - Bouzouki and fine millenary, Colin Foster - Bass, Lee Goulding - Keyboard, Simon Swarbrick - Fiddle and Strings, Andy Jones - Drums

Open fires, a few tots of Welsh whisky and some good food allowed the creative juices to flow freely and up rose Rising of the Bold.

The first thing that strikes you are the production values, there is a real complexity and depth to this mix and I was especially pleased that Simon Swarbrick's fiddle work has been brought front and centre.

Music albums are for me, generally one dimensional affairs...that lack the dynamism and exhilarating nature of a live performance, Rising of the Bold bucks this trend and although music production values are top notch, it's not at the expense of the visceral experience...tracks include Andrew and Virginia's cheers, whoops and calls that make for an as close to live experience as is possible.

Another element that has cheered my dopamine hungry brain is the increased use of electric guitar, some may still cry 'Judas!' but quite frankly I don't care, folk is the broadest of churches with something for everyone, and for me this is why folk is the greatest musical genre. Merry Hell is the epitome of folk rock, electric guitars and shredding fiddles should be compulsory, albeit at the appropriate moments.

We kick off with Pick Yourself Up - a fine, optimistic tune that encourages the listener to make the most of what we have, right now, and celebrate the moment, for it will pass all too quickly.

The album's huge sound is most certainly apparent in the second track - Vagabond Army, a full on war cry for the broken and the brave. I am very pleased that the full live experience of has been recreated on the album, so good in fact that it deserved repeated listens before moving on. I've banged on about this tune before, but now I'm even more certain that; for me, this is Bob's greatest work... Yes, even better than Come On England, the tune superb, the lyrics rousing, the album arrangement is a masterpiece and the ending nothing short of thrilling, if you don't want to grab your pitchfork and take back the land by the end of it you should probably have someone check your pulse.

Only Love follows, penned by Lee Goulding - banjo and ivory tinkler extraordinaire. A lilting, waltzy treat of a tune that has become a regular on recent set lists, and asks the listener to contemplate what is real and what really matters in an increasingly online world.

Rising of the Bold is probably the most trad Merry Hell track on the album and is a welcome reminder to stick to your guns, keep plugging away and overcome adversity, in whatever form it may take.

Now onto Changing Times, and it's a very pleasant surprise indeed....a song for an age of instability with a very commercial feel, I can easily imagine this getting radio airtime... maybe Mark Radcliffe will do the honours?

Having previously mentioned that Simon Swarbrick feels very much front and centre on this album, it's certainly the case with his self-penned Lizard on a Log - the only instrumental track on the album. Simon was inspired to write this driving dance tune following a sleepless night on the Kettle's sofa, having been eyeballed throughout the night by the eponymous reptilian. If this tiny house dragon can inspire such levels of creativity, then I for one would pay good money for a night at the Kettle Airbnb.

I've loved this tune from the first moment I heard it in a very stripped back form at Knutsford Little Theatre, in what feels like eons ago. It would seem that its taken a little while to work out the best accompaniment for Simon's virtuoso fiddle work, but it's made it onto the album and is really worth the wait with layers of interweaved strings and electric guitar making for a fantastic, grungy western vibe, an honorouable mention also goes to Andy Jones for his excellent stick work, which is especially evident on this track - you will not be able to keep still when you hear it.

Changing Just the Same, back to a more familiar Merry Hell sound and another fine tune from under Bob's top hat, yes that is what he actually keeps under there...a bucketload of talent. Changing reminds us that the only constant in life is change, and it's something to accept and not worth unduly railing against.

Louder than War - a thousand and more voices (including my own, but fortunately you can't make it out), a plea to the world that peace can in fact be louder than war. It makes for a rather heart warming chorus tune, that perfectly befits the Merry Hell tradition of hope, peace, joy and of course raucous audience participation. Hundreds of the voices for the track were collected here: https://atthebarrier.com/2024/05/24/virginia-kettles-rolling-folk-and-merry-hell-liverpool-philharmonic-live-review/

In addition to the large scale recordings, Merry Hell fans (do we need decide on a collective noun to describe these discerning individuals? Hellsters, MerryFolk, Mellodians?) were invited to send in their own recordings, and contributions were received from four continents and an impressive twenty-six countries.

Join Hands - you can tell straight away that this was penned by Bob, it is very human, kind, and with a simple but beautiful message, how much better would the world be if we all joined hands with a stranger!

Along a similar theme is Don't Say I Say Us, this time the wise words come from Virginia with her trademark wit and warmth. The song will be familiar to anyone who has attended a recent Merry Hell gig and has joined in the band's most ambitious audience participation to date...were you Team Virginia or Team Andrew?

Not everything is Wrong, is the shortest tune on the album and is another track that would do very well with a radio audience - but would perform equally well live, cue the 'Whoah oh oh oh oh!' from the audience.

We've reached the end and the final track is John Kettle's Singing in the Morning....a well rounded track, with visual lyrics about the importance of singing to get us through hard times...a calm but lovely end to an absolute barnstormer of an album.

After all that I need a lie down, but maybe I'll listen to Vagabond Army just one more time....

Raising of the Bold is available to preorder now from all reputable and unreputable purveyors of music and will be released on 9 May 2025.

Order direct from Merry Hell before Saturday 3 May 2025 to obtain a signed copy!: https://merryhell.bandcamp.com/album/rising-of-the-bold