Kris Drever “Doing This For Love”

Meditations on the unglamorous, but with melodic hooks, from Scottish folk-award winner

Anyone coming to this album for their first experience of Kris Drever may well be expecting something fairly traditional in light of his many BBC folk awards but they will discover a collection of songs drawing upon the stresses and strains of modern living, all set to arrangements and instrumentation that are firmly rooted in the present day. The ten songs on Doing This For Love are described by Drever as “meditations on the unglamorous, 4am alarm clocks, ungrateful shifts, the quiet sacrifices made for love.”
 
The title track tells of “digging holes in rain” and could be describing the early start and weather-beaten life of a gardener or construction worker, yet there’s an ambiguity that could also apply to the less glamorous aspects of a touring musician’s life when the song concludes –
“I’m doing this for love
Chasing the money round……
It’s why I do what I do.”

Here, as on the remaining nine songs, there’s a contemporary feel to the blend of folk and jazz rhythms that are the hallmark of Drever’s solo work as well as with the acclaimed trio Lau, where his vocals and guitar have been a key element since the band began in 2006. After winning the BBC’s Best Newcomer Folk Award in 2007, Drever has successfully combined the two strands to his career in a way that must require first-class planning and a well-organised diary. Tours must be scheduled alongside writing and recording, so perhaps it’s no surprise that the lyrics on this album reflect such demands. There’s a new Lau record every two or three years while solo albums have appeared a little less frequently in recent years.

Six years on since his last release, the new collection once again features Euan Burton on bass, the instrument resonating and complementing Drever’s sometimes delicate tenor. The rhythm section also includes Louis Abbott on drums and vocals, himself the singer-songwriter and founder of the much-acclaimed Glasgow-based group Admiral Fallow. Other vocal contributions come from Rachel Sermanni and Rachel Lightbody, Scottish musicians well-established on the international folk-scene. It’s not surprising that such a highly-acclaimed musician as Drever can call upon an array of talents and the album features some accomplished banjo from Cahalen Morrison, Hammond organ and Wurlitzer from Michelle Willis, Trent Freeman on fiddle and even mellotron and saxophone from Sam Mabbett.

A song ostensibly about an artist setting up their easel in a fishing village on Scotland’s east coast, Catterline highlights the wearying nature of the daily grind, Drever exclaiming with the very last line of the album, “God what a life, I hate it when our bodies go wrong.” Yet though dull routine and fatigue are often referenced in these songs, the album never feels tired or gloomy. There are innovative chord changes, beautifully crafted guitar picking and melodic hooks abounding.