Johnny Flynn moonlights as an actor, and it shows. His folk-rock has always felt a bit forced, and album number three is rootsy like the Chelsea Flower Show, blooming with mega-twee lyrics like ‘After Eliot”s “we shared the experience of being alive, and then we took some tea“. The Calexico-ish ‘The Lady Is Risen’ shows he can get close to a folky barnstormer, but on closer inspection the barn appears to be a set prop that might blow down in a stiff wind. There’s even a song called ‘Tinker’s Trail’, for Christ’s sake. If things get any more contrived his next album will feature a duet with a cow.
Jamie Fullerton