Devon: the home of Ambrosia Custard, Burts Chips, cream teas and of glorious sandy beaches. But there is another side to Devon. The Devon of death, murder, suicide, of blood and lives given down deep copper mines or lost out to sea, of Dartmoor and its barren windswept hills, eerie goings on, and its cold isolated Victorian prison.
KITTY JAY is musician Seth Lakemen's second album. It is inspired by the history, myths and legends of his native Dartmoor where he was brought up and still lives. It's this haunting and dark side of Devon that Lakeman explores on this atmospheric and brilliant album.
All the tracks were recorded in his brothers Dartmoor cottage with the exception of the melancholic instrumental 'Cape Clear' which was recorded at St. Andrews Church in the village if Buckland Monachorum in order to make use of the Church organ.
The songs themselves are a mixture of traditional folk standards and Lakeman's own compositions that weave Devonshire myths and local history and together with an authentic folk sound which features violin, tenor guitar, mandolin and bouzouki.
The title song 'Kitty Jay' tells the story of a servant girl who committed suicide out on the moors sometime the late 18th century. The story goes that she fell pregnant out of wedlock and hung herself in a barn. The three local parishes refused to give her a Christian burial on consecrated ground and so her unmarked grave rests at the site of a crossroads, near the village of Manaton. There's always been tales of sightings and flowers are frequently found on the sight yet no one takes responsibility. Spooky.
Elsewhere we get servants murdering their masters for the love of their mistress ('John Lomas'), soldiers dying of their battle wounds out on the moors ('The Brave Knight'), and the hard toil of miners working deep underground in Dartmoors mines ('Blood Upon Copper').
KITTY JAY is a great modern folk album but with its traditional influences readily apparent. Its raw and live performance give the whole album an authentic local feel. You imagine many of these songs being sung in cottages and taverns hundreds of years ago. This is truly a West Country classic.
Devon sent!
'KITTY JAY'
'FAREWELL MY LOVE'
'CAPE CLEAR'
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