Thu 11 Jan 2007
LIVE AT ALTER STATES, December 2006
Source: americana UK

"Where are we again?" was the roundly said refrain on stepping from the quick train ride out from Liverpool Street Station. Chelmsford in Essex is the answer, where Mr. Ian Flavill has seen it as his duty to kindly bring the good and great offerings of Americana, commonly only available to bigger cities, all the way out here to the 'made' or made up folks of places east, o so northeast of London. Down a dark street of unremarked repute into what could easily be an office suite of small town America we enter and descend. A strange place this is, transfixed into a wood floored, low-ceilinged venue smelling for all its no smoking policy just like a pub. Clearly the landlord here is music devotee of the best order. Photos adorn: The Rat Pack, The Beatles, Willie Nelson and Satchmo, John Lee Hooker and even John Coltrane. Ian calls his nights here Altered States, and indeed I do feel like I'm in an altered home.

It's been a good while since I've written about Morning Bride. The band have adjusted themselves nicely to accommodate their upcoming gleaming future. Joining the poet Mark, the muse Amity and time-keeper jesus-like-Jim are Alexa on cello and Pete on guitar. Over the intervening time MB's sound is predictably more polished and more special. The first thing I'm clear on is how much space the new guitar is giving to the often delicate, often explosive voice of Amity.

Besides a well earned space for her there is much more blues current that greatly gives a needed underlay to that rich foundation of heartache MB represent so well. In fact, the new amount of space Pete is providing gives a lot more room to hear all of the music; even Jim's plaintive drumming is more clear, more hearable.

I spoke with Mark post show to find out more about the new members. He tells me Pete is an old friend from the Stoke Newington scene. When MB were recently looking for a new guitarist, Pete coincidentally had some spare time and had just spent a summer in Devon playing folk festivals and perfecting his slide guitar. Mark says, "Pete became the perfect candidate from our short list of exactly one." The invitation extended to Pete to join MB seems to have been fated. Tonight the band is running through their list of what is to become the first full length recording, Lea Valley Delta Blues. I find myself more lost in listening than writing this review. I expect "Faith is Blind" to be my favourite song tonight. It is a perfectly simple showcase of Amity's voice and Mark's effortless twist of cliché-rendering lyrics. I also expect the the lump that arrives in the throat on cue and the burning of a would be tear for another home-hitter, "Stepping Out in Front of Cars." What I don't expect is the haunting (which stayed with me long after) of "Eleanora" and the sweetness of "Time Delay". During the latter, Mark tells the band to "make it nice and slow..." One gets the sense of his gentle leadership, but it is always remarkable how much this band works together, one for all. They have developed their own style of playing off each other perfectly and it is always this that gets spoken of, rather than there being a front person or star syndrome happening. Other bands might well have folded under the pressure of new members and sound changes. Morning Bride simply widen their arms to embrace the expansion of their developing scope.

There is a little scratch at the back of Amity's pure voice tonight that ends every last word like an etching of a dream. There are new songs and I'm damned if I know how Mark writes these tales so purely that they stay on repeat in the brain for weeks without hearing the actual songs again. When I asked Mark where the songs come from he said , "None of the songs are about one particular person or experience, rather they are a conglomeration of learned tales and I kind of magpie other peoples' embellished personal histories and my own experiences and put them together until the meanings are a bit blurred." I want to know why the songs are so beautifully sad and Mark tells me, "I gravitate towards sadness because people can relate to sad songs more easily but there's always the thing where conflict and loss lead to hope in the end. You have to be quite happy to immerse yourself in memories of your own or someone else's tragedies and write about those less than happy things."

On reflection I realize that empathy may be a particular key to Mark's amazing song writing. His songs belie the contagion that pain is and draw forth one's own heartbreaks and they are elevated by the beauty which only music in its darkest lower chords can express. Still, we wouldn't be able to stand that much effusion if it weren't tempered by a promise of a reckoning, a light at the end. So Morning Bride gives it all with that shaded poetry sweetened by the delivery of Amity and her voice that sparkles purely with a white, radiating salvation. The other voice that has been added recently to MB is Alexa with her sublime cello. She pulls the strings of a newer sophistication for the band.

The smoothness of the cello dropped in below Amity's voice creates a velvetizing harmony which is broad and brave. Alexa's unbridled joy in playing is obvious in her smile and I always love to see a band enjoying themselves. Alexa joined the band only weeks ago after a chance meeting of acquaintances. Her classical training and sought after performance skills left her with RSI that could have broken her spirit but instead inspired her to seek out something more contemporary. MB's best friend Fate stepped in again as Mark had four songs in mind that he wanted a cello on. Alexa tried out, and became a full time member. Amity tells me, "Singing with the cello is challenging as it's the most melodic and vocal instrument. I can do more creating as Alexa is coming up with counter melodies. Sometimes they clash and we have to work it out to get the right harmonies." With all the new enthusiasm and creating going on, one marvels at the future for Morning Bride.

I always study the audience as well as the band when I'm after a review. Morning Bride's audience tonight do them proud with their rapt attention. It's touching to see people obviously moved by what they're hearing. The faces reflect the hurt and the hope MB are soundtracking. Folks become reverent and their eyes close and their mouths move. Their drinks go untouched, watery as their eyes; ice melts and so do hearts. It's so awfully easy to imagine yourself on the highway, hearing this broadcast to everyone but believing it's your's alone. Driving out through the desert, or maybe just down to Morning Bride's next gig. Even better, come springtime you can drive to your local independent fair play record store and get a copy of Lea Valley Delta Blues all for yourself.

Tue 3 Jun 2008
live preview - Bonanza
Source: Bonanza

Fri 9 May 2008
LIVE REVIEW
Source: THE INDEPENDENT

Wed 5 Mar 2008
GREETINGS FROM ABNEY PARK, N16
Source: PLAN B MAGAZINE

Tue 4 Mar 2008
PLAN B LIVE REVIEW, FEB 2008 ISSUE
Source: PLAN B MAGAZINE

Fri 1 Feb 2008
Live
Source: ALTER STATES

Tue 11 Dec 2007
Live at Hot Burrito, Newport, Wales
Source: soundsnew.com

Wed 7 Nov 2007
live review

Mon 15 Oct 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: HERE COMES THE FLOOD webzine

Mon 8 Oct 2007
LIVE AT THE FAVERSHAM, LEEDS 2007
Source: RAWKSTAR.NET

Tue 2 Oct 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: 17 SECONDS webzine

Mon 1 Oct 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES - ALBUM OF THE MONTH
Source: soundsnew.com

Sat 18 Aug 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: NOIZE MAKES ENEMIES webzine

Fri 17 Aug 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: NET RHYTHMS webzine

Sat 14 Jul 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: THE WORD MAGAZINE

Wed 6 Jun 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: Song, by Toad webzine

Wed 23 May 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: SOUNDSXP.COM

Mon 21 May 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: PICCADILLY RECORDS

Mon 7 May 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: AMERICANA UK

Thu 19 Apr 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: ROCK N REEL MAGAZINE

Sun 1 Apr 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: N16 MAGAZINE

Mon 5 Mar 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: PLAN B MAGAZINE

Sun 4 Mar 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: FREQUENCY ONLINE

Thu 1 Mar 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: ORGAN MAGAZINE

Fri 2 Feb 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: SUBTER.COM

Mon 29 Jan 2007
'TIME DELAY'
Source: Partly Porpoise ezine

Sun 28 Jan 2007
'TIME DELAY'
Source: indie-mp3.co.uk

Thu 11 Jan 2007
LIVE AT ALTER STATES, December 2006
Source: americana UK

Wed 15 Nov 2006
interview with mark
Source: antivirus review

Wed 15 Mar 2006
interview with mark
Source: essex chronicle

Mon 20 Feb 2006
LIVE AT WHAT'S COOKIN', 1st february 2006
Source: artrocker magazine

Fri 13 Jan 2006
live preview
Source: the gilded palace of sin

Tue 10 Jan 2006
'ISABELLINE' / 'REPLICA' by rob barnett
Source: music-news.com

Wed 14 Dec 2005
DEBUT SINGLE LAUNCH PARTY, 12th november 2005
Source: frequency

Mon 5 Dec 2005
LIVE AT RYAN'S BAR, 25th november 2005
Source: music-news.com

Thu 10 Nov 2005
'ISABELLINE' / 'REPLICA' by Richard Fontenoy
Source: N16 magazine

Wed 10 Aug 2005
LIVE AT THE SPITZ 18th july 2005
Source: spitz website

Mon 25 Jul 2005
LIVE AT THE SPITZ, 18th july 2005 by Lilly Novak
Source: Frequency