Of Arrowe Hill - Suddenly, At Home and Other Rumours of Misadventure

  by Jamie Rowland

published: 4 / 5 / 2011

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Review

The latest album from London psych-blues outfit of Arrowe Hill sees singer/songwriter/poet/gentleman Adam Easterbrook stripping his sound right back to the bare essentials – this is pretty much a solo-record; vocals and acoustic guitar. 'Suddenly, At Home and Other Rumours of Misadventure' has none of the rabble-rousing rock songs found on previous oAH efforts, but their quieter moments have never been any less accomplished so that’s no bad thing. Despite the stripped back sound, this is still unmistakably the same band found on 'Dulce Domum' and last year’s 'A Few Minutes in the Absolute Elsewhere'– references to horror, literature, poetry and heavy drinking ripple through the record on a psychedelic wave; Easterbrook’s unique songmanship (might have made that word up) stamping every track unquestionably as of Arrowe Hill. In fact, 'Suddenly, At Home' reminds me most of the very first oAH album from way back in 2003; 'The Spring Heel Penny Dreadfu'l. A good selection of the tracks on that album were quite stripped back and recorded with a lo-fi rattle and hum. This album shares that quality; it has a purity and an intimacy to it which can’t help but make it an absolute pleasure to listen to. Stand-out tracks have to be opener ‘My Last Black Scarf’, ‘Forbidden Toys and Springs’, foot-tapper (and potential single) ‘Damned’ and the fantastic ‘Sunlight I’ve Called Mine’, which might be one of the band’s finest moments to date. Of course, this list will probably change next time I listen to the record. 'Suddenly, At Home' is short and oh-so-sweet (none of the songs reach the 3 minute mark) which is almost a shame as the songs are, to be quite frank, bloody brilliant. If you like good music, buy this record.

Track Listing:-

1 Purcell Wights
2 My Last Black Scarf
3 Bulwer Lytton's Bargain
4 A Good Night In?
5 Forbidden Toys & Springs
6 The Furnished Room
7 Damned
8 Bone White Bike
9 When the Morning Comes
10 Confessions of a Wooden Shovel
11 This Demon, Life
12 Clangtanking (for T.H.)
13 Sunlight I've Called Mine
14 Suddenly, At Home
15 Purcell Wights (Reprise)

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/pages/of-Arro
https://twitter.com/of_arrowe_hill