Levellers
Album: Static On The Airwaves
Label: On The Fiddle
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.levellers.co.uk

The mighty Levs' tenth studio album has been eagerly anticipated, and, while it certainly delivers a further consistent bunch of typically incisive and passionate songs, this is one occasion when its brilliant sound quality - vivid and clear yet retaining all the necessary punch - arguably makes an impact on the listener in advance of the lyrics themselves. Nothing wrong with that of course, for the band has always been high on energy and forthright presence. But listen more carefully and you'll find that producer Sean Lakeman has done a grand job here in pointing up the lyric content. There's plenty of musical contrast too, from the chugging power-pop of No Barriers to the massed-fiddle folksiness of Our Forgotten Towns and the more introspective personal reflections of Alone In This Darkness and Treveller.

Faced with the latter song especially, I guess long-term Levs fans may initially be a touch surprised to find that this new collection may not appear as blisteringly angry-political in its commentaries as its predecessor, 2008's Letters From The Underground, in particular. That's not to say that Mark Chadwick's writing's lost any of its edge; it's just not quite as obviously confrontational or in-yer-face, so you need to think more on't at times. Except perhaps in overt cases like Truth Is and the mischievous Afghanistan-referenced update of the traditional Recruiting Sergeant that brings the album to a boisterous close. But for much of the time there's a confidential intimacy and more laid-back intelligence that now complements the central stance, and a keen quality of hope characterises the writing in spite of everything. And at the same time, the set marks a kind of fresh departure for the band in that some songs here take lyrical inspiration from history, whereby the present is informed by a specific event - witness the pair of tracks Raft Of The Medusa and Mutiny, strategically placed to form the core of this new set.

Even so, musically Static On The Airwaves inhabits more of a rollicking folk-rock-getting-it-together-in the-country vibe, with in some respects a kind of full-circle return to the uplifting climate of the band's iconic 20-year-old classic Levelling The Land, whose anniversary they'd celebrated by touring it in full again very recently. I felt a similar frisson listening to much of Static On The Airwaves, which in the final reckoning I think will come to be regarded as a majestic record and a significant album in the Levs' canon. By the way, the disc comes in a choice of formats, with a digital deluxe edition that features two bonus tracks and a limited-edition box-set that incorporates both CD and vinyl formats.

David Kidman