I Would Not Live Always

I Would Not Live Always opens with a brief burst of burbling electronics before the traditional ballad ‘Lovely Joan’ weighs in, its acoustic guitar and fiddle dappled by electronics and loops laid down like kindling by drummer and composer Ross Chaney. The following ‘Cannily, Cannily’ is one of two powerful father-son songs, this one gravely offering reasons for letting the old man get some sleep. ‘Tralee Gaol’, meanwhile, is a bold and bare instrumental, a rare glimpse into the acoustic, unaccompanied world of John Francis Flynn. His bravura dexterity on the double tin whistle is arresting, while his gravelly voice is best heard on the mournful ‘Shallow Brown’.

In its sound design, Flynn’s debut shares the drone cosmology of Lankum, for whom he opened on their 2019 tour. The push and pull between tradition and innovation is all over this record. The three-part song cycle ‘Bring Me Home’ begins with the kind of disconcerting, subliminal electronica you’d find on Throbbing Gristle’s setlist, or in the outer realms of German Krautrock, mixed with powerful vocals and spare acoustic backing. This is a distinct and innovative debut, and an excellent addition to River Lea’s innovative artist roster.