Folklore
Folklore finds Big Big Train giving their detailed progressive rock a stronger connection to folk music. Strings, brass and flute add colour around the guitars and keyboards, while David Longdon's singing gives the stories a clear emotional centre. The album is often warm and inviting, even when its arrangements become quite involved.
The title track begins with a broad introduction before settling into a more active rhythm. Its folk touches and closing instrumental exchanges create an energetic opening. The general celebration of storytelling is less interesting than the particular stories elsewhere, though, and the large arrangement sometimes puts more force behind the words than they need.
London Plane is more convincing. A gentle acoustic beginning develops into busier playing, with guitar, organ and flute widening the arrangement. The song's view of London's history gives those changes a sense of purpose, and the stronger instrumental passage adds movement without losing the reflective mood.
Along the Ridgeway and Salisbury Giant provide a connected change of scale. Strings, keyboards and brass keep the music detailed, but the melodies remain easy to follow. The Transit of Venus Across the Sun then brings a more orchestral sound into contact with especially expressive singing, building towards a fuller ending.
Winkie makes particularly effective use of the band's storytelling approach. Its unusual subject, a wartime rescue pigeon, is matched by lively changes and a strong sense of forward movement. Active bass and organ help the different sections feel like part of the same adventure.
Brooklands takes a longer route through memories of motor racing. Quieter reflection alternates with more forceful instrumental playing, giving the arrangement a useful connection to its subject. Telling the Bees offers a gentler close before the guitar gives its final stretch a stronger emotional lift.
Not every grand gesture is equally persuasive, and the album's familiar sound will offer fewer surprises to existing listeners. The weaker title-track writing is also difficult to overlook entirely. Yet the careful arrangements and more specific stories make most of Folklore rewarding. Big Big Train are strongest when the detail serves the people and places inside their songs, and there are plenty of those moments here.
