{"id":3971,"date":"2010-06-22T20:31:49","date_gmt":"2010-06-22T19:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/?p=3971"},"modified":"2022-06-09T12:28:23","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T11:28:23","slug":"album-review-circus-envy-a-new-dawn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/album-review-circus-envy-a-new-dawn\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Circus Envy &#8211; A New Dawn"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-3970\" href=\"http:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/album-review-circus-envy-a-new-dawn\/circusenvy\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-3970 lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/circusenvy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"170\" height=\"170\" \/><\/a>Something has happened to folk music recently, something I&#8217;m not sure I  like. Following the success of acts like Noah And The Whale, Mumford  &amp; Sons and Laura Marling, many artists already established as &#8216;folk  scene&#8217; artists have tried to replicate elements of this folk\/pop, in an  attempt to break into the musical mainstream.<\/p>\n<p>I want to make one  thing clear before I start; my gripe is not with artists such as Laura  Marling and the others described above. My gripe is with folk musicians  who are very specifically folk musicians, not pop musicians, that try to  take elements of pop music and elbow it into their own music without  really understanding how to go about doing so. Usually this means  thoughtlessly slapping drums and percussion over perfectly acceptable  acoustic music that really didn&#8217;t need it.<\/p>\n<p>Circus Envy are a  perfectly competent folk band, who seem to have fallen into this most  unfortunate modern trap.<\/p>\n<p>The opening song and title track &#8216;A New  Dawn&#8217; starts promisingly with a fantastically sparse but harmonically  dense swell of ethereal richness. The vocals and guitar are absolutely  beyond criticism, and the first time you hear the chorus I dare you not  to well up at the sheer sentimentality of it. Then the second verse  starts and the drums make their most unwelcome entrance. Oh dear. A  perfectly good song ruined by a needless back beat.<\/p>\n<p>The rather  appropriately named second song &#8216;Going Nowhere&#8217; couldn&#8217;t be more  irritating. It sounds as though they&#8217;ve heard some flamenco and decided  to write a song that nods in its general direction.<\/p>\n<p>After this we  are treated to the E.P&#8217;s highlight, a superb arrangement of the  traditional song &#8216;Three Score and Ten&#8217;. Here, the band manage something  thus far avoided on this EP; sounding like a folk band. This really is a  superb and well thought out arrangement of a very fine song. The verses  are full of anticipation and tension before exploding into a  foot-stomping, sing-along chorus. The instrumental accompaniment is  excellently considered too, often restrained and providing a pedal for  the vocals to sit on top of before being allowed to flourish when taking  the tune.<\/p>\n<p>The final two songs are both perfectly acceptable and  worth a listen. &#8216;The Game&#8217;, a jazzy, swingy ditty that has a belting  flute solo towards the end and &#8216;The Night Draws Closer&#8217; (did you see  what they did there?) a folky anthem with some lovely fiddle and  squeezebox playing towards the end. Both of these songs, despite their  strengths suffer from some ridiculous and some entirely unnecessary  percussion and drumming, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>So, is this a &#8216;good&#8217; E.P?  Well, I suppose it is, or at least it would be if Circus Envy would  slap themselves and switch on their self-awareness detector. I have no  doubt that they are a very good folk band, and when they actually  decided to be one they really shone.<br \/>\nThe problem they have is  similar to that of a very beautiful girl who happens to be into RPGs and  sci-fi but tries desperately to fit in with the boring mainstream  girls, oblivious to what it was that made her so beautiful, special and  interesting in the first place. They decorate their interesting music  with completely pointless intrusions that only obscure from view the  very things we want to see.<\/p>\n<p>I suppose my issue is really with  modern folk musicians trying desperately to drag folk into the 21st  century with percussion, drums, electronics and what have you. There is  nothing wrong with this, modernising music ensures its survival and a  few artists do it with enormous success, as Mawkin:Causley have done. It  can also go horribly wrong as anyone who has ever seen a Jim Moray live  set will confirm.<br \/>\nProblems arise when this is attempted by  traditional &#8216;Folkies&#8217;, people who have grown up in folk music and as a  result know very little of the modern world and mainstream culture.  Whilst the rest of us were smashing beer bottles over the heads of  policemen, they were dressed up in absurd costumes and learning how to  do ridiculous traditional dances.<\/p>\n<p><em>A New Dawn <\/em>Can be  purchased on <a href=\"http:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/gb\/album\/a-new-dawn\/id369715566\">iTunes<\/a> and for more information on Circus Envy click <a href=\"http:\/\/www.circusenvyband.com\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>If  you would like to be reviewed then please email me; <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>luke@routenote.com<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> or follow me on twitter @monkeyhotel<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Something has happened to folk music recently, something I&#8217;m not sure I like. Following the success of acts like Noah And The Whale, Mumford &amp; Sons and Laura Marling, many artists already established as &#8216;folk scene&#8217; artists have tried to replicate elements of this folk\/pop, in an attempt to break into the musical mainstream. I want to make one thing clear before I start; my gripe is not with artists such as Laura Marling and the others described above. My gripe is with folk musicians who are very specifically folk musicians, not pop musicians, that try to take elements of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13,284],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.4.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Album Review: Circus Envy - A New Dawn - RouteNote Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/album-review-circus-envy-a-new-dawn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Album Review: Circus Envy - A New Dawn - RouteNote Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Something has happened to folk music recently, something I&#8217;m not sure I like. Following the success of acts like Noah And The Whale, Mumford &amp; Sons and Laura Marling, many artists already established as &#8216;folk scene&#8217; artists have tried to replicate elements of this folk\/pop, in an attempt to break into the musical mainstream. I want to make one thing clear before I start; my gripe is not with artists such as Laura Marling and the others described above. My gripe is with folk musicians who are very specifically folk musicians, not pop musicians, that try to take elements of...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/album-review-circus-envy-a-new-dawn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RouteNote Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-06-22T19:31:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-09T11:28:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/circusenvy.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"RouteBot\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"RouteNote\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/\",\"sameAs\":[],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/routenote-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/routenote-logo.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"RouteNote\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"RouteNote Blog\",\"description\":\"The World of Digital Music - Distribution - Stores and Free Music\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/album-review-circus-envy-a-new-dawn\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/circusenvy.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/circusenvy.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/album-review-circus-envy-a-new-dawn\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/album-review-circus-envy-a-new-dawn\/\",\"name\":\"Album Review: Circus Envy - A New Dawn - RouteNote Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/album-review-circus-envy-a-new-dawn\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-06-22T19:31:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-09T11:28:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/album-review-circus-envy-a-new-dawn\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/album-review-circus-envy-a-new-dawn\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/album-review-circus-envy-a-new-dawn\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Album Review: Circus Envy &#8211; 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