THE SPECIALIST
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Sumer Is Icumen In GRAPEFRUIT
8/10
Three CDs of mysticism, pastoral romance and Arcadian myth
GRAPEFRUIT have been on something of a mid-’60s-’70s folk roll in recent years, with 2015’s terrific compendium and, two years later, the female-focused anthology, which widened its net. His naively bucolic “On Horseback”, from 1975’s features, but sensibly, only one track from the now-overexposed soundtrack is included – an interpretation of “Corn Rigs”, from Magnet, who were in fact English folk-rock outfit Hocket, with a couple of Royal College Of Music graduates added. Here, then, are old familiars like Fairport’s “Tam Lin”, Pentangle’s “Cruel Sister” and “Witches Hat” by The Incredible String Band, alongside the less well-known “Summer’s In” by Anne Briggs, recorded in 1973 but not released until 1996, and Marc Bolan’s brief, quivering-voiced “Eastern Spell”, an acoustic demo recorded for Decca in 1966 but not issued until years later. Traffic’s primitivist perennial “John Barleycorn” pops up, too, as does Kevin Coyne’s hypnotic “White Horse”, from his debut. It’s a set full of elemental earthiness that reflects the interest in Druidism, ancient myths and legends, animism and the like that was very much of the era – with Glastonbury Tor regulars Third Ear Band, Comus, infamous married duo Dave and Toni Arthur and Mr Fox ably repping for the darker side – but it swerves the theatrically portentous and self-consciously wyrd.
