Short Reviews [Crystal Jacqueline & Friends - 2025 - "Smoke Road"]

It has been said that Crystal Jacqueline and The Honey Pot are the closest thing one can get to being the house band for Fruits De Mer, and here we find Crystal Jacqueline and Icarus Peel taking their music in a new direction after they were contacted by author David Greygoose, and they felt his poems would serve as an excellent basis for an album. They had been wanting to work with both violinist Leo O'Kelly (Tir na nOg) and singer Mark McDowell for a while, so brought them in on some tracks and as Icarus was already working with pianist Rob Gould, Mordecai Smith (Mellotron) and Jay Tausig (drums, flute, vocals) it made sense to invite them as well. Dick Terry, drums and vocals, and Django Manglunki, glissando guitar, are both members of The Honey Pot Collective, while the album also includes Maria on Irish whistle and Phil Townsend (jaw harp). One thing which I found particularly interesting about this release is that while Icarus plays on every track he is the only person to do so, and if it was felt it was better for another singer to take the lead then that is what happened and Crystal Jacqueline sat it out (although she is the lead singer on most tracks, and duets on others). It is very much an album out of time, as it has links with early Pentangle and Fairport Convention while also containing elements of Anna Ryder and Talis Kimberley, psychedelic in some ways but very much folk or folk rock in others, all combining together to create something which is very special indeed. It is certainly fitting that this double album has been released on Fruits De Mer as this feel likes a vinyl release, as there is a depth and weight to those, a tactile presence which is much more than the digital lightweights which often appear to be the case. It is not unusual for me to review a release by FdeM and note it is already sold out on the site, but that is not the case this time so I am not sure if that means I am getting more up to update (which I actually am), or if this has slipped out without anyone being aware of its presence, but what we have here is an incredibly impressive album which surely would have hit the charts if it had been released 55 years ago. The way they switch personnel between songs means there is a huge number of different styles at play, with violin being important here, electric guitar there, flute on this one, male vocals here, female at others. If you are a fan of the late Sixties/early Seventies folk rock scene when some bands also imbued a healthy sense of psychedelia, then this is essential.'''''