Fancy some comfort food? This record from a radio DJ and a guitar tutor delivers it by the forkful.
Mark Radcliffe and David Boardman are two members of the seven-piece americana band FineLines; Boardman being one of the band’s singers and playing guitar, while Radcliffe drums. The pair also do other stuff, such as appearing as the duo Mark Radcliffe & David Boardman.
Of course, Radcliffe is very well known in the UK, mainly for his broadcasting and his writing. Boardman, on the other hand, is a guitar tutor and an artist. Both nowadays based in Knutsford, Cheshire, the pair got together over a pint at a hostelry in the town.
“Hearsay & Heresy” is the duo’s second album release, on the back of 2024’s “First Light“; it comes across like a travelogue in some ways, as many of the songs are about places, places in the UK and further afield. All of the songs here are written by the duo, and they produced the record themselves, too.
Opening track, ‘Merchant City, Driving Rain‘, refers to Glasgow and inclement weather. Part of central Glasgow has been known as The Merchant City since the 1980s; it reflects the city’s status as a trading centre in the 19th century. The Merchant City is promoted as a leisure destination, similar to London’s Covent Garden. It’s clear from the lyrics that when Radcliffe and Boardman were there, the weather made it a less-than-pleasant experience. “Cannonballing coffee cups careening down the old main street, I stand marooned and cower beneath facades of buildings incomplete, The hoolie haunts the corners of the dog-eared dead-end lanes, Umbrellas twisting inside out, merchant city, driving rain“.
‘On Euston Road‘ opens with the lines: “With a case and a rucksack and taking a chance, A guitar for a touch of romance, Headed for mysteries to unfold, Would anyone say ‘come in from the cold’?” It appears we’re listening to someone hitting the golden pavements of London looking for fame, fortune, or simply adventure. The words of the song do a great job of describing scenes of London, “Was there ever a time here before rush hour slowed? But the traffic was one of the things I loved most, Bumper-to-bumper along Euston Road“. While ‘Steal the Sea‘ is about the great Mancunian plot to steal the sea and conquer the world! More seriously, it’s about the plans to build the Manchester Ship Canal; during the early part of the 19th century, Manchester was growing quickly and establishing itself as one of the foremost industrial cities in the world, with its cotton mills and the supporting industries growing around the mills. The logistics of getting necessary supplies to Manchester were becoming problematic and costly, due to supply chain capacity issues and the Port of Liverpool applying charges to the goods arriving at the Liverpool docks. In 1882, it was decided that an application would be made to build the Manchester Ship Canal, connecting the cities of Liverpool and Manchester. As the application failed to garner sufficient support (particularly from the folks of Liverpool), Parliament did not approve the scheme until 1885, and, due to other issues (such as funding), the canal did not open to traffic until 1st January 1894. The song’s lyrics talk about how the canal would help the city to fulfil its business aspirations. “18 hundred and 82, We’ll harness all the worker bees, Our landlocked town will rule the world, Once we’ve stolen the high seas“.
‘At the Bar San Calisto‘ is about a bar in Rome; the song has a completely different vibe to the others on the record, featuring prominent fiddle (including a solo) and some nifty guitar playing. While ‘Down the Steps‘ is much closer to home, seemingly referring to Sam’s Chop House, which has been serving food and drink in Back Pool Fold, an alleyway in central Manchester, since the late 1860s.
‘The Not So Grand Hotel‘ covers, from an asylum seeker’s perspective, 2024’s riots outside hotels housing asylum seekers; describing themselves as human contraband, the views expressed “A wave of them they came they did, a wave of them they came, An underclass, the broken glass, the spitting of the bile, We thanked the Lord for bed and board, the pen less mighty than the sword, I’m cured of my affliction, no more the Anglophile“. To sum up the scene at the hotel “Room service is suspended at The Not So Grand Hotel“.
Is this a groundbreaking record? No. However, it’s entertaining, with melodies sounding at times like something that Paul Heaton would produce, with down-to-earth, clever lyrics that accurately depict scenes that you can easily relate to. This album is like comfort food; order yourself a Barnsley chop and tuck in.
