Track: Folk troubadour Sam Lee releases new song, Blackbird.

Travelling the UK, Sam Lee has collected and reinvented folk song and story. His creations are inspiring a new generation of folk musicians to explore, adapt and experiment with folk and sound. Blackbird is Romany in origin and was imparted by May Bradley of Shropshire, passing on her cultural roots.

The tale told in Blackbird has not lost its relevance. We know how easy it is to fall in love and come a cropper! A young woman falls hard for a sailor who is called away to war. Left utterly desperate she longs to chase after him, if only she could soar like a blackbird.

A rousing jazz-folk orchestral sound floods your ears. With five other talented musicians, Josh Green – Percussion, Francesca Ter-Berg – cello, Steve Chadwick – Trumpet, Jonah Brody – koto and Flora Curzon – violin, the layered sound is effortlessly achieved. With this collection of musicians and instruments I am reminded of the vastness of tracks by the likes of Elbow and Bon Iver. But Lee’s music is wildly different and unique. Freshening up old traditions and ancient lyrics.

His vocals contrast starkly with the timbre of the instruments, cutting through clearly without getting lost in the waves of sound, gliding over the top. There is no jarring bounce to this track, rather a gentle rolling from one sound to the next, like a ship climbing and dipping over waves.

Blackbird is from Lee’s new album “The Fade In Time”, which will be released on the Nest Collective Label on 16th March. This song and album form part of intangible cultural heritage, a heritage that ranges across the UK and beyond. Thanks to Sam Lee this heritage will not be lost.