The Lost Cavalry – Wave Frees To Rolling Hills

Let’s rip off the press release for this bit shall we: ‘The Lost Cavalry are a London-based folk band formed in 2009 by vocalist Mark West [formerly of Fanfarlo]. Their debut EP ‘Waves Freeze to Rolling Hills’ is released on August 2nd 2010.’

For some reason the intro reminds of Michael Buble, so not a great start but the vocals are hypnotic and just the right side of melancholic, rising and falling like the dark waves on the cover; it’s very traditional folk in an almost-as-heart-wrenching-as-Mumford fashion, albeit with glock in stead of banjo. Appropriately the main lyric in opening track ‘Oh Sally’, is ‘come away from the edge, come away from the edge’ - pretty sound advice considering the slightly maddening repetition.

Things look up with the swelling acoustic guitar and lilting vocals of ‘Secret Steps’. West laments ‘I woke on the shore to the sound of a horn’; ahoy me hearties, it’s getting quite shanty-like, and that’s never a bad thing. Track three, ‘The Elephant of Castlebar Hill’, is soothing with tinny ukulele that makes up for the lack of banjo, and wistful vocals that make it the stand out track. Finally ‘Only Forward’ is just the wrong side of melancholic, a dash too sad and a pinch too mumbly. Having said that, if you’re a fan of the trad-folk revival of story-telling, then this one’s probably for you.

Pretty sharp for an EP recorded almost completely at home and put out on the bands own record label. This one’s a grower, which like most of the new folksters is surely more voluptuous live.