Peter Bruntnell's new album Peter and the Murder Of Crows, co-written as usual with his Canadian songwriting partner Bill Ritchie, is released on September 8. Still signed to his ever-faithful record label Loose, and with new management in place, Bruntnell is about to enter into a touring frenzy such as he has never experienced before. Autumn 2008 sees three nationwide tours, one opening for American Music Club, one co-headlining with Michael Weston King and Leb Joy Nichols and one Loose package tour with new signings Mr. David Viner and the Ralfe Band. These will be mainly solo performances, but if you are lucky, you'll catch the Murder of Crows trio with double bassist Danny Willliams and guitarist and harmonium player (and Devon neighbour) Dave Little.
It was this outfit which brought the house down on their London debut at the Borderline in July 2008. A roomful of fans, none of whom had heard the new songs or experienced the new style, was faced with an hour's worth of completely new material, played in a drummer-less style quite different from the rocking Bruntnell of old, yet their acceptance was total and the appreciation rapturous.
"We were amazed!” enthuses Bruntnell. “You don't know if there are any people walking away not liking it, but the number of people saying they like the new stuff more than the old has been exciting, particularly at the Borderline, where we have always 'rocked' before. That was a big confidence boost."
The new music is quite different from the "alt-country" tag which has been associated with Bruntnell's earlier work. "I did want to move away from the American country music thing, because I'd done it for a bit, and also because I am English and I've been listening to more English artists like Bert Jansch and Syd Barrett."
Modesty greets my suggestion that Bruntnell has managed that elusive trick of inventing a whole new style of music. "I wouldn't be so bold as to say that, but I suppose the combination of those instruments and the songs we've written do make for a fresh sound."
So just how did this fresh sound evolve?
"Well, the drone started off with the idea of a sitar, and then I started looking at other Indian instruments. A tanpura is a four-string Indian instrument. Danny mentioned you could get electric tanpuras, so I looked on the internet and found one. That, with the Indian harmonium both droning at the same time, gave it a nice texture, and that's when I realized the potential of using them to enhance the songs. Danny then started bowing his double bass and that added even more texture, as we discovered when working down in my cellar studio."
The combination of this captivating new musical approach and Bruntnell's strongest-ever set of songs mean that Peter and the Murder of Crows is a classic and completely addictive album with a true organic appeal. It means that, to the joy of long-time fans, Peter will soon be saying "Thanks folks" to a whole lot more people.
--Oliver Gray [August 26, 2008]
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