The album title may paint a picture of a rural idyll but in the eyes of Steve Knightley it couldn't be further from the truth. The biting lyrics of 'Country Life' leaves the listener in no doubt that here is a man with a lot to get off his chest. Whether the song is based on fact or a vivid imagination it dispenses with the niceties and brings everything sharply into focus as your thoughts of Hayley Mills frolicking over a picturesque landscape slide further into the mire. The plight of the farmer with his consumer and politically led issues (sorry, I've been watching a bit too much Country File) are brought to bear in the words of the song and the acid deliveries with which they are emitted are a scathing damnation of our government. Mind you, it's good to see that the jollification in the performance helps to lessen the lyrical impact a bit. As ever his trusty partner Phil Beer adds that punchy, almost rough round the edges fiddle style so enamoured of the 'folk' fraternity whilst… more »

The album title may paint a picture of a rural idyll but in the eyes of Steve Knightley it couldn't be further from the truth. The biting lyrics of 'Country Life' leaves the listener in no doubt that here is a man with a lot to get off his chest. Whether the song is based on fact or a vivid imagination it dispenses with the niceties and brings everything sharply into focus as your thoughts of Hayley Mills frolicking over a picturesque landscape slide further into the mire. The plight of the farmer with his consumer and politically led issues (sorry, I've been watching a bit too much Country File) are brought to bear in the words of the song and the acid deliveries with which they are emitted are a scathing damnation of our government. Mind you, it's good to see that the jollification in the performance helps to lessen the lyrical impact a bit. As ever his trusty partner Phil Beer adds that punchy, almost rough round the edges fiddle style so enamoured of the 'folk' fraternity whilst Roy Martin (drums), Mick Burch/Brian Dickenson (harmonica), Gareth Tuner/Paul Wilson (melodeon), Matt Clifford (keyboards) and Jenna Witts (vocals) all add their dynamic skills to a highly polished album. Multi-instrumentally speaking, Phil provides much of the colour with beautifully controlled classical and acoustic guitar, which now even includes some texture veering on American production values. OK, so you couldn't accuse Show Of Hands of being lightweight but then again occasionally it's great to hear an album with true fighting spirit. It's indeed a rare thing for me these days but I must admit to hitting the repeat button more often than not and that's very much the case on most of this album. By the way check out 'Reynardine', surely a contender to 'The Ballad Of Cursed Anna'. This is a neatly produced package and even includes a second, enhanced disk containing some footage of their performance at the Royal Albert Hall along with an accompanying video for the main track, photo slideshow and lyrics.

Pete Fyfe