North Atlantic Explorers - My Father was a Sailor

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 17 / 11 / 2014

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William D'Cruze was a sea engineer in the British Merchant Navy. He spent a decade sailing out of Glasgow before returning to Canada in 1962 to begin a new life, meeting and marrying a stenographer. Their son, Glenn D'Cruze has enjoyed a twenty year career as a drummer, and also wrote and sung the songs on 'Skylines', a collaboration with another multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Anderson. That album emerged to modest enthusiasm in 2005, but that, it seemed, was that for the North Atlantic Explorers. The death of his father inspired D'Cruze to complete a set of songs he had already begun writing about the sea. These are songs about his father's life at sea and the blossoming relationship of his parents, but also about the sea, often a metaphor for the afterlife. D'Cruze had to imagine many of the details – this record is an attempt to connect with a part of his father's life that he regrets not asking more about. The album begins with a short reading from Stuart David (who Pennyblackmusic readers will know as the man behind the 'spoken' Belle and Sebastian songs circa 'The Boy with the Arab Strap', and who is now a novelist). David reappears as the album nears its conclusion, reading the shipping forecast. Just as on the debut, there is a cinematic sweep to these songs – most augmented by a horn section and a choir. D'Cruze plays sixteen different instruments over the course of the record, and Anderson isn't far behind with thirteen. As important as the two main players are the horn parts from JP Carter. If any of this is ringing alarm bells, be assured that the record is most definitely not over-produced, with the arrangements displaying a delicate touch. Nothing is over-done. The sweet ballad, 'No More Stormy Seas' is a good example – the strings and horns do nothing to distract from what is, at heart, a sweet acoustic ditty about settling down after falling in love. The centrepiece to 'My Father was a Sailor' is 'Spiral Into The Sea', which begins simply with just piano and vocal, before strings, cymbals, muted backing vocals and a xylophone are gradually layered into the background. This is followed by an instrumental, where the horns take centre stage for an unusual, strangely deconstructed melody. Moments like these stop the record from seeming overly sentimental. There is also an unexpected cover – 'South', an album track from Pipas, a sporadically acclaimed but still fairly obscure indiepop duo. This is a breezy pop song, sung by the choir over a gentle electro drumbeat, with more from the horn section. An unusual choice, but it adds a splash of pure-pop to the overall mood of cinematic folk-country. Understanding the back story makes you like the music more – the songs come alive when you realise how personal they are. But, even without that, this is a lush and often beautiful record. Hopefully, it won't be another nine year wait for North Atlantic Explorers' next outing.

Track Listing:-

1 The Sailor & the Stenographer
2 Glasgow Circa 1952
3 Don't Want No One Else (If I Ca
4 South
5 Lost At Sea
6 Into the Blue Sea
7 Spiral Into the Sea
8 Subtropics
9 No More Stormy Seas
10 Hebrides, Bailey, Fair Isle (feat.
11 White Moon Bay

Band Links:-

http://www.northatlanticexplorers.com/
https://www.facebook.com/northatlanticexplorers

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