The idea behind North Atlantic Explorers’ new concept album My Father Was A Sailor is a simple and unsubtle one. Its title sums up its subject.
The album apparently charts the blossoming of a parents’ relationship, against the backdrop of the sea and long periods spent apart. A sweet idea, but not an entirely successful one.
The vocals of Stuart David (of Belle and Sebastian fame) sound more like the opening to Balamory than the intended shipping forecast. An instrumen- tal follows and I’m about to give up hope. But then enters the single ‘Don’t Want Anyone Else’.
The soothing twanging of banjos complements the choral harmony perfectly. It is a simple yet sweet song, and an early (and rare) highlight in the album.
If Neutral Milk Hotel and Slow Club had a love child, chances are, in their infancy they would sound like North Atlantic Explorers. My Father Was A Sailor uses similar orchestral arrangements, piercing trumpets and uncomplicated guitars.
You can feel emotion outpouring in ‘Spiral Into The Sea’, the simple beauty of which the sentimentalist in me cannot help but appreciate.
‘Hebrides, Bailey, Fair Isle’ is the album’s lowest point, yet you can’t help but smile when he utters “Goodnight gentleman, good sailing” as the album comes to a close.
