Album Review: Secrets by Circus Envy

Circus Envy are an alternative-folk band based in East Yorkshire.  Featuring a line-up of primarily acoustic instruments, they add a traditional sensibility to their intricately crafted harmony-led songs with use of banjo, bazouki, mandolin and cajon.

The band’s 2010 EP ‘A New Dawn’ was released to critical acclaim and received national airplay including BBC Radio 2 and a front cover feature on R2 magazine.  2011 sees the release of their new album ‘Secrets’, an album that is a fine blend of traditional and contemporary folk-rock.

The album opener ‘Regret’ is a combination of soft vocals, mandolin and violin.  The song has a sound of The Wonderstuff circa 1991 and sets the album up beautifully.  ‘Snakes And Ladders’ and ‘A New Dawn’ both have acoustic guitar and great vocal harmonies as well as some really nice violins.  Comparisons to 90s folk-rock acts such as The Wonderstuff, The Levellers and New Model Army are obvious and ‘Into The Light’ has vocals very similar to The Beautiful South’s Paul Heaton.  ‘Betsy Watson’ changes things slightly with just a piano and is quite haunting.  The band get a little funkier on ‘Last Cigarette’ which is a very lively track and has more mandolin.  ‘Say Something’ has a really good Bluegrass sound with the different  layers of banjo, harmonica and violin solos working really well, making it a stand out track.  ‘Three Score And Ten’, a song about fishermen, is probably the folkiest song on the album.  It is a great traditional jig of a song.  Closing song ‘Baby’s Got A  Secret’ is a brilliant final track.  It has an acoustic intro, soft bass, picked solo, rocky drums and a great string section with violins and cellos.  It finishes off a really good album in style.

Overall, ‘Secrets’ is a superb album and is full of great folk-rock and traditional folk songs.  Leigh Hirst’s vocals are fantastic and the rest of the band support him brilliantly.

‘Secrets’ is released on 26th September and is available from iTunes.

Tags: album review, Circus Envy, Featured, Folk, Folk-rock, Indie, Secrets

Category: Album Reviews