Green Diesel — The Hangman s Fee

This is the third album from Kentish folk rockers Green Diesel, and the follow up to 2014s Wayfarer’s All album.  Mixing traditional acoustic folk instrumentation with a more modern electric sound really pays dividends for this vastly underrated band, who represent for me one of the gems of the folk underground. The album was recorded at Roundel Studios with producer Roger Cotton, to whom it is also dedicated, a sure sign of his worth in helping to shape the sound of this beautiful new record. The CD was released earlier in 2017 and is currently available through Talking Elephant Records.

The opening track Elephant Tree is a wonderful country tinged slice of folk rock with some beautiful vocal melodies. The sound is familiar and obviously there is a debt owed to the classics of the genre. Steeleye Span, and Comus both come to mind for a variety of different reasons. It’s a great opener.

Jump at the Sun is up next. Opening with the most achingly beautiful fiddle line, before heading into more rocky territory, and coming back to a reliance on that fiddle. The track is an instrumental that uses the fiddle as if it were a vocal line, lovely stuff. Butchers Bird is another slab of classic folk rock, Ellen Core’s powerful voice takes centre stage. I am once again reminded of many of the classic folk-rock albums of the 1970s, however it never feels like a pastiche. I Loved My Love is a more traditional sounding slice of folk music, stupidly catchy, with some wonderful vocal hooks and riffs that Richard Thompson would be proud of.

The White Hare is one of my personal favourites on the album and espouses a real Folk Horror vibe. There is a massive influence that I can hear in this track that I just can’t place. This familiarity is currently driving me crazy, but in a good way as I adore it. Jenny with the Lantern is up next and represents a change of pace preferring a slower, more reflective sound. Domovoi follows in much the same reflective mood, and the beautiful Through Lonesome Woods is another track where the ever-wonderful vocals of Ellen Core take centre stage against a backdrop of Steeleye Span or Fairport Convention style music. Simply beautiful.

The Roger Cotton is up next and is for me one of those classic anthems that stays with you long after listening to it. It’s an instrumental jig with the various instruments taking centre stage throughout its length. Despite there being no lyrics, you’ll be humming it all day long. Final song On Mayfly Wings sees the return of Ellen Core’s vocals, she really does have a wonderful quality to her voice, that is quite hypnotic when you listen. Much like Sandy Denny, you can’t help but listen to the story as she sings it to you, and you can’t help but feel she is singing it to you.

Overall the album is a wonderful slice of folk rock with a nod to those classic 1970s releases that form the core of everything we know and love about this most precious of subgenres. The production is good, the songs are well written and the musicianship is excellent throughout. This a strong release that deserves to receive far more attention than it has garnered thus far.