At the end of last month Sweet Billy Pilgrim released their third LP, Crown and Treaty, to almost universal critical acclaim. One of the exceptions was this very paper which only awarded the album a paltry two stars. One of the main charges levelled at the band in justification of this grading was that they seemed too happy to remain in the kind of cult status in which they had started.
It was with a feeling of slight trepidation, therefore, that I rang up Tim Elsenburg, lead singer, song-writer and producer of Sweet Billy Pilgrim, in order to discuss their new album and status as a band. He seemed keen to refute the kind of hang-ups which had been raised, probably unfairly, by the review, stressing that ‘at the end of the day it’s all about telling stories and communicating, whether it be through people buying and taking home the records or eye to eye onstage. It’s all very well being esoteric and left-field and having lots of integrity but I like the idea of reaching as many people as we can. And that’s not just an economic or ego based thing it’s based on that magical feeling when you can see people connecting with your songs. It’s the reason we’re still together as a band.’
This earnestness and honesty is a hallmark of the band’s music and is a mark of just how much they believe in what they are doing. The band has never been successful enough commercially for its members to commit to it full time and have been juggling jobs and family around making records. This low budget has also meant that they have had to do almost all of the organisational work themselves. Elsenburg, however, does not see this as a drawback. ‘We’ve been taking lots of tiny steps so we can trace everything and when we get to where we want to be we can look back and feel that we’ve earned every bit of it.’
The belief that they will get to where they want to be was vindicated when their second album, Twice Born Men, was shortlisted for the 2009 Mercury Prize and there has been further progression on their new album: ‘I went from working in a shed with no windows to making this record in a bungalow with a nice bay window and a view of some beautiful gardens. On Twice Born Men you can hearthere’s a claustrophobia, whereas on Crown and Treaty I was more connected to the outside world.’
Speaking to Elsenburg, there is a general sense that Crown and Treaty marks a new stage in the band’s career. ‘We’ve worked so hard; it took a year to make this album and we were basically doing it in my house. It was a long old process and what I finally feel like is that we’ve made an album which doesn’t compromise any of the ideals we have as musicians or song-writers or singers but that is much more open armed and approachable. I always hate to use the word ‘commercial’ because it’s such a horrible one but, almost by accident, it’s a much more open record.’
Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising therefore that Sweet Billy Pilgrim haven’t delivered the kind of anthem packed album that Cherwell’s reviewer seemed to have desired it to be. In an age where people far less talented than Sweet Billy Pilgrim can be propelled into the stratosphere of fame overnight it is refreshing to hear a band who want to grow organically. It looks like a second listen to Crown and Treaty might be in order.
