Soup Review - From the Bed to the Settee (and Back Again)

  by Nicky Crewe

published: 22 / 2 / 2019

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Review

Soup Review are a Sheffield based duo, Chris Delamere and Marco d’Agostino. This debut album is released on a Sheffield-based label, Labelship. I really didn’t know what to expect of Soup Review. Described as anti-folk, but also folk, I could appreciate that this was going to be a quirky collection of songs. I wasn’t prepared for how delightful, clever and funny they were going to be. Chris Delaware has been brought up in a South Yorkshire folk tradition. His father Peter is big in Sheffield City Morris. Mario D’Agostino is the acknowledged anti-folk influence. The whole package reflects their approach to life, from their handwritten notes and illustrated album cover to the topics they celebrate in song. There really is a soup review (Liz’s Gypsy Soup) on the inside cover of the CD. And a (very) short play about the ghost of British Socialism. They aren’t afraid to write songs about politics ('Jezza') and religion ('The Mines of Devotium'). There are also songs about flying ant invasions (we’ve all wondered what they were about), the overwhelming choice of sandwiches in a supermarket, and Euston Station. There’s even a tried and tested recipe for Baba Ghanoush which I will be paying close attention to sometime soon. The lyrics are poetry for our age, and the music’s great too. There are echoes of 80s new wave as well as folk music. Based in Sheffield through many of their references, the sentiments have universal appeal. Described as a scrapbook collection of songs with clever wordplay and sharp observations, it’s made me realise that there’s not enough of this irreverent but thought-provoking music out there. Coincidentally I’d been listening to Ivor Cutler a few days before I heard this. His approach to the banal and everyday through song was wonderful in his day and it’s time someone else took up the torch. Labelship has an interesting place in the local music scene, not least because of links to Brooklyn and Hamburg via the people and studios involved in it. It was established by Thomas Lebioda, music maker and record producer, back in 2008 and to date 28 bands and solo artists have been supported by the label. Labelship attracts a certain kind of artist, working in the world of independent music making and bringing something different to the table. As a producer Thomas Lebioda is keen to embrace vinyl and CD as well as digital formats, recognising the different production qualities required.

Track Listing:-

1 Anthem for Flying Ant Day
2 A Recipe for Baba Ghanoush
3 Half Astronaut
4 Telegraph Hill
5 Icarus Record Collection
6 Jezza
7 The Mines of Devoutium
8 New Skins for the Old Ceremony
9 Sandwiches
10 Thoughts Walking to Euston
11 Theme from 'Russian Satellite'

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/soupreview/
https://twitter.com/soupreviewband
https://soupreview.bandcamp.com/

Have a Listen:-