The Imagined Village
Bending the Dark
Release Date: May 14, 2012
Genre(s): Folk, Pop/Rock, International
Record label: Emmerson, Corncrake & Constantine
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Album Review: Bending the Dark by The Imagined Village
Excellent, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 4/5
The folk collective overcome "difficult third album" syndrome with bravura playing and inventive songwriting. Once an unaccompanied Jackie Oates has delivered the antique murder ballad The Captain's Apprentice, the band concentrate on original compositions, using an array of tricky rhythms, dashing fiddles, mournful cello and winding sitar. Eliza Carthy's state of the nation Sick Old Man and the celebration of Wintersinging sit alongside the stately dub of The Guvna, the John Barryesque Fisherman and the epic 12-minute title track, with its dhol drum battle.
Opinion: Very Good
As calling cards go, Bending the Dark states this genre-fusing act’s case eloquently. John Aizlewood 2012 For all that pop music is becoming increasingly niche (or increasingly tribal, depending on your point of view), there are still those trying to shoehorn various unlikely genres together, not least The Imagined Village collective, brainchild of Simon Emmerson, leader of Afro Celt Sound System. For almost a decade now, they have attempted to fuse traditional finger-in-your-ear folk with all sorts of non-trad, but mostly "world", genres.