You may think you know Mark Chadwick, the much-loved Levellers’ frontman. Yet here, with Ouse Dragon, he has returned with a work of depth and wonder that defies any easy categorisation. One of those records that makes you stop dead in your tracks, it explores a range of sounds only hinted at in Mark’s work to date, and it is quite simply one of the most surprising albums of the year to date.
Opening track, the eight minute Ouse Dragon, sets the tone. Filled with echoing ambience, it nods to some of the most experimental moments found amidst the Levellers’ back catalogue (Chemically Free, Elation, the opening drones to the live rendition of One Way), Mark’s voice ringing out above the noise as the piece slowly coalesces into a neo-folk drone that is quite remarkably effective. An utterly enthralling voyage into the unknown, while that voice is still instantly recognisable, the music takes its cue from the likes of Thurston Moore, Jarboe, and Massive Attack – and it is quite the most cinematic and darkly haunting piece of music that Mark has ever penned.
The follow up takes great delight in wrongfooting the listener. Eerie vocals and heavy reverb may lead the track, but huge swathes of heavily treated guitar follow, and the resultant piece is a dense, hypnotic take on folk not a million miles from Low’s unexpectedly static-laden Double Negative. While it’s very different from the opening number, you nevertheless find yourself astounded at the risks Mark takes on the album, as he incorporates elements of ambient, shoegaze, and art rock to create something that is utterly unique. At a time when everybody’s instinct seems to be to play follow the leader, Mark’s contrary instinct is most welcome and yet, for all that this is an album that exists in a realm of one, Mark’s instinctive gift for melody ensures the listener is never pushed too far adrift. That said, a mid-song break that spoofs a phone call from a police officer leads to no small amount of confusion on the first listen.
Once more hauling itself from a haze of noise, Dance Of The Crows emerges as a really rather lovely track that cleaves closer to latter day Manics, with that same sense of gentle melancholy washed through a lilting melody that also hints at the honeyed harmonies of latter-day Beatles. It’s pop, Jim, but not as we know it, and you’ll find yourself humming it long after the feedback and noise has finished echoing through your speakers.
Rather more confrontational is the heavy distortion that acts as a prelude to Leap. Once again, we find ourselves in art rock territory, part R.E.M., part Sonic Youth, and honestly, I’m somewhat in awe that Mark cared enough to make something so utterly unfettered by commercial concerns. In contrast, the haunted folk of Bearing Witness is arguably the closest the album comes to Mark’s day job, the noise largely subservient to a strident acoustic riff that could just as easily have come from Levelling The Land as Bad Moon Rising.
It is but a brief nod to convention, however, for the album wraps up with the deeply sinister Paxos Room. Stealing ambience from Silent Hill is always a good way to get the nerve ending jangling and the dark strings, echoing noise, and subtle synth elements all point to a darkness that, while looming, never fully resolves. It makes for an engaging yet enigmatic conclusion to an album you’ll find yourself wanting to play again and again.
Like Dave Gahan and his work with Soul Savers or Richard Hawley’s Standing At The Sky’s Edge, Ouse Dragon takes the recognisable voice of a musician you thought you knew well and repositions it in a realm that, while initially unexpected, fits perfectly.
That said, Ouse Dragon is not an easy album, and it has no intention of giving up its charms all at once. Simply to write this review took several passes and to truly appreciate everything Mark embedded within his work will take many more.
But that’s fine.
It’s worth the effort and it’s always a pleasure to work your way through an album that seems to entice you with a completely different offering every time you hit play.
A dynamic, diverse album, Ouse Dragon perfectly adheres to Neil Young’s maxim that great art is not giving the audience what they want but what they need. As a long-time fan of the Levellers, I was looking forward to this album but, in the end, it gave me so, so much more than I expected. 10/10
