The Happy Couple - Lullaby of Broadland
One of the positive aspects of running Red Guitar Music is that you encounter all manner of different musical genres that you wouldn’t necessarily find on your own. The RGM Inbox is positively overflowing with the good, the bad and, yes, the ugly (although something we find unlistenable is probably the best thing in the world to someone). One example that falls squarely in the good category of pleasant surprises is The Happy Couple, discovered on a recent visit to London’s Green Note, where the duo opened for Dimple Discs labelmate Kelsey Michael.
The career paths the duo have taken to become The Happy Couple are definitely worth investigating. Judith Goodman studied at Chethams School of Music and the Royal College of Music before becoming a freelance French horn player, touring and recording throughout the UK and Europe, before moving to Norfolk and mastering a varied selection of stringed instruments such as the Stoessel lute, bell cittern, dulcimer, tenor banjo, acoustic slide guitar and tenor guitar. David has been an improvising musician and electronic composer for three decades, working with artists such as Evan Parker, Matt Deighton, John Butcher, Sidsel Endresen, Andy Cox, Eugene Chadbourne, The Frank Chickens, and Bark Psychosis. He is also a member of the electro-acoustic trio Twinkle3 (recently collaborating on an album with David Sylvian and Kazuko Hohki) and plays drums in the Kenny Process Team. I’d also like to mention his work since relocating to Norfolk in 2016, where he has run workshops/performances for Eastern Ear in Norwich and Great Yarmouth and developed a modular synthesiser for profoundly disabled artists controlled by EEG data called the ‘Brainwave’ for local charity Musical Keys which sounds fascinating.
The amusingly titled ‘Lullaby of Broadland’ is a lovely foray into the world of ambient folk. Inspired by early winter mornings on the Norfolk Broads, the album has the seemingly unique ability to transport the listener to the Yare Valley they call home. The combination of Judith’s various stringed instrumentation and David’s mastery of Jew’s harp and mouth bow works wonderfully. Add in a little light electronica (a sustain pedal) and a smattering of field recordings, and you might as well be floating through the reeds in Norfolk surrounded by gently lapping waves and faint sounds of birdsong. It’s rather uncanny. The press release claims ‘Lullaby’ to be peaceful and profound, which sums it up much better than I can.
“These tunes were mainly recorded over the long winter evenings at the start of 2023. They aim to convey our sense of awe, love and appreciation for the beautiful Broadland environment around us at this time of year. All the recordings are unedited performances made in real-time as this seems to be the best way for us to capture the right feeling in the music. Each piece represents a specific moment in time”
The album works best if you let it do what it does best and allow it to envelop you. Just go with the flow, but, if pushed, the likes of ‘Breathing’, which opens part two of the album, the title track and the haunting ‘Barton Moon’ prove particularly effective. If I’m honest, ‘Lullaby of Broadland’ isn’t for everyone, but if you enjoy the natural world and appreciate the great outdoors, then this will tide you over quite happily until your next adventure or even, hopefully, inspire you to get your walking boots on for the first time.
Review by David Vousden
https://happycoupleisland.co.uk/
https://happycoupleuk.bandcamp.com/album/lullaby-of-broadland
The Happy Couple
The unpredictable UK weather has taken a turn for the better, and it’s positively steamy in the Green Note basement. For those yet to sample the charms of this most intimate of venues, imagine your living room with a bar at one end, but probably smaller. A sold-out venue makes for a cosy experience, so we grab a beer and a spot by the bar in preparation for this evening's entertainment brought to us by Brian and the good folks at Dimple Discs.