Johnny Flynn, Robert Macfarlane - Lost In The Cedar Wood
A barnstormer of an album...
‘Lost In The Cedar Wood’ sees *Johnny Flynn* team up with nature author and Cambridge English Literature Professor, *Robert Macfarlane*, for lyrical inspiration.
The two recorded the album in a solar powered cottage in Hampshire, far from the throes of modern day distractions. Not that distractions were commonplace at the time of writing – back when we were all told to stay at home, planes returned to base, and life as we had come to know it ground to an undignified halt. For most of us, this lack of distraction was distraction in itself, but not so Johnny and Robert. The pandemic provided time enough to create, ‘Lost In The Cedar Wood’, working both as an ode to wounded nature, and a retelling of the ‘Epic Of Gilgamesh’ (an ancient text dating back to the Mesopotamian period).
Storytelling is the order of the day on ‘Lost in the Cedar Wood’, and it’s hard to resist being transported into the vibrant and colourful world *Johnny Flynn* creates. The album opens with ‘Ten Degrees Of Strange’ – a crazed four minutes that surges and abates: a perfect parody to the start stop instruction we’ve all lived by in the past year. On ‘Bonedigger’ we’ve followed Flynn through the swing doors of a wild wild west saloon – with an old manned piano in the corner and a swaying trumpet section punctuating the jaunty guitar beat. It’s fun, it’s slightly mad, it is arguably everything we need right now.
‘The World To Come’ is another hoedown of a track, which builds throughout to a tremendous finale, and ends with laughing, smashed glasses, and clapping. The carnival atmosphere is tantalisingly present on these tracks – and shows Johnny moving away from some of his earlier, more sedentary work. It’s a bold and refreshing move rooted in the present moment; Flynn has never been more relevant than now.
The raucousness is enhanced by the band Johnny’s brought in for ‘Lost In The Cedar Wood’. There are accordions, banjos and keys, which jigsaw perfectly around the twang of Johnny’s Resonator guitar. The effect is immediately invigorating, and keeping true to the ethos of the album, also revels in nostalgia. ‘Home And Dry’ for instance, a song written for the *Fishing Industry Safety Group*, closes with a rolling accordion and hollering vocal. Again, it’s easy to imagine being right there, watching the boats come safely into harbour as the band plays on the quayside.
Images of epic, myth and custom are a constant throughout ‘Lost In The Cedar Wood’ – with Macfarlane’s literary influence front and centre. The album’s spokes are its characters, which structure the album from beginning to end. We hear tale of Enkidu, comrade and friend of Gilgamesh, who "sighed in pain" and "walked away". The trundling guitar beat could never be anything other than walking; and just like that, the pair achieve the mean feat of bringing to life a character committed to page centuries and centuries ago.
‘Ferryman’ is an ethereal and moving track that brings the album to a close, just as the ferryman of Hades carried souls across the River Styx to their final resting place. References to myth and legend may be unimportant to some listeners. But Johnny Flynn’s consistently simple melodies and simply, his sheer musicality, are evidence of an artist in his prime. ‘Lost In The Cedar Wood’ could be the most important album to listen to right now.
*8/10*
Words: *Sophie Church*
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