On 11th June Skinny Lister unveiled their debut album entitled Forge & Flagon on Sunday Best Recordings.
Harnessing the energy and fervour of the band’s live performances on every track, the album was recorded in deepest darkest Snowdonia, with producer David Wrench (Bat for Lashes, James Yorkston).In its 13 tracks, the album represents all sides of Skinny Lister; from the beautifully melodic Plough & Orion and Peregrine and the sun-kissed Kite Song, through to the foot stomping barn-storming If The Gaff Don’t Let Us Down, Rollin’ Over, Wild As The Wind Blows and Forty Pound Wedding. Other standout songs include upbeat sea faring song Trawlerman, the waltzing Seventeen Summers and the heart-stoppingly rousing Colours that builds Forge & Flagon to an amazing crescendo. The album is punctuated with Skinny’s trademark shanties including the ramblasting John Kanaka, which goes to make every Skinny Lister gig so inclusive.
Forge & Flagon features legendary folk players including award winning Northumbrian Piper Kathryn Tickell and fiddle player extraordinaire Roger Wilson.
Skinny Lister are not your average, modern day, gentrified English folk group. Fronted by Dan Heptinstall and Lorna Thomas; a vocalist with a lusty cackle and flirtatious presence, the London based five-piece hail from across England. Borrowing the nickname from the Lister family, pioneers in the use of anesthetic, the band have grown naturally and organically over the past two years. Yorkshire born songwriter Heptinstall, Lorna’s older brother Max, and long-time shanty singer Sam ‘Mule’ Brace, met some time ago at a folk club in London’s Greenwich area. The arrival of Tyneside bassist Dan Gray and the naturally exuberant Lorna lifted them into another realm.
Now, captured on their debut album Forge & Flagon, the band’s distinctive qualities make their mark. Titled after a homemade pub ran by Lorna and Max’s family friends, Forge & Flagon marks Skinny Lister as an outfit who are decidedly more than the sum of their parts. Galvanised by months of road and more than 30 festival appearances in 2011(earning them the PRS Accolade of Busiest Band of the year) they transform traditional and contemporary influence into a singular sound.
In an era when singing a song in a pub can get you thrown out for rowdiness, Skinny Lister - are joyous good times band that lift the spirit and bring cheer to your heart - not afraid to match sensitivity with a high kicking free for all attitude. It’s time to open the floodgates and get the party started.
Published on 12 June 2012 by Wayne Feltham
