TuNesday: The Mummers

First off: I’m not one to say ‘I told you so’ (actually, I totally am, but I try not to be), but a couple of notes of interest about my last few TuNesdays (see what I did there?). Faith and begorah, ‘Mumford and Sons’, the private-schooled London pop-folk band that sounds like either an Irish ensemble or a removals company went ahead and won a Brit Award for Best British Album in 2011. Nicely done, to be sure! And anyone living in the Western Hemisphere should have noticed that Adele has gone global in the last six weeks or so. The popularity of her performance of the truly beautiful ‘Someone Like You’ at those same 2011 Brit Awards not only sent that recording straight to #1 in the British charts (where it reigned supreme for four consecutive weeks and is now back at #1 again after a 2-week slide to #2), but also reinvigorated ‘Rolling in the Deep’ to #5. With two songs in the top 5 singles chart and two albums in the top 5 albums chart, The Official Charts Company announced that Adele is the first living artist to achieve the feat of two top five hits in both the Official Singles Chart and the Official Albums Chart simultaneously since The Beatles in 1964.

Now, there’s no telling whether I’ll be just as spot-on with this week’s offering. They may not have the mass appeal of the aforementioned crooners, but they are a talent that deserves to be heard. The Mummers are a band from Brighton, the cast of which seems to change with the wind. At the core, though, we find London-born singer/songwriter Raissa Khan-Panni and producer Paul Sandrone (a third core member, Mark Horwood, sadly committed suicide in 2009). ‘Mink Hollow Road’ is their second album, and ‘Fade Away’ is the second single from it. It’s a cover of a song from a 1978 Todd Rundgren album, made modern and relevant by Raissa’s vocals and the hauntingly melodic arrangement behind the lyrics. I hate the YouTube video that’s available, but if you can close your eyes and listen to the tune, you might be as moved as I am by the simplicity, honesty and innocence of its power. Maybe it's just good timing... the music and the lyrics seem to mesh well with the unseasonably warm weather we've been having here in Wales recently. When I hear this song, I sense something better on the horizon. I feel warm, dry grass between my toes; I can hear the reassuring 'klink' of ice cubes in my glass of Coca-Cola (from a glass bottle, of course); I can smell the sunshine as it warms my smiling face and my body outstretched in my back yard. To me, this song sings the promises of Spring - and that is always worth a listen.