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Bar the Doors and Bang the Shutters Down (2024)
Bar the doors and bang the shutters down the long-promised fourth album, will be released into the wild on September 1st 2024, full of sharp observation and word play combined with a take-no-prisoners delivery.
Subjects include being ice-bound with Franklin in the Arctic; gazing enviously at super yachts in Portofino harbour; being overrun by Spaniards on shore leave; or trembling in the kitchen with the lights off and the blinds drawn. It celebrates the simplest of joys: tall trees, wild garlic, and taking off your suit trousers for the very last time, with a nod to the perils and pratfalls of working from home.
No navels were scrutinised in the making of this record.
Purchase via:
Exit Pursued by a Bear (2019)
The long-time-coming third album, firmly rooted in the English folk tradition, filtered through a mash-up of other influences: Nic Jones, Spike Jones, Jake Thackray, Bruce Springsteen, and John Chibadura & The Tembo Brothers.
Lyrically it’s a sharp but affectionate dissection of . . . well, everything, really. From Napoleon’s exile on Elba to choosing the right colour for the kitchen wall; from the decline of tradition industry to the horrors of war and the disappointments of middle age. It even includes a couple of love songs, one of them with fleas.
The album was recorded painstakingly between the end of the industrial revolution and 2018 at the world famous Talking Cat Studios in Ripponden.
‘Crisply contoured guitar playing, generously listenable tunes, brilliant savvy word-smithery . . . delivered with a winning blend of wit, sensitivity, intelligence, musicianship and a high level of respect for the tradition.’ Fatea Magazine
‘Interesting tunes, accessible lyrics, catchy choruses . . . everything you might need for a good night out. Deceivingly perceptive and full of wit and warmth.’ Living Tradition
‘An impressive and consistently rewarding collection. You’ll end up joining in the choruses before the song ends, again and again.’ – Tykes News
Stop me and buy one; digital and hard copies also available here: https://chrismanners.bandcamp.com/album/exit-pursued-by-a-bear
Also via:
Glad of what I Got
Contains such near-classics as ‘The Vampire Came to Whitby’ (‘inventively cruel to unskilled bodhran players’ – fRoots Magazine).
‘Songs written with thought and intelligence which have something to say as well as something to listen to . . . on this evidence, Manners doesn’t make bad songs.’ Living Tradition
‘A treasure chest of songs full of rich lyrical images, strong tunes and crisp guitar accompaniment.’ Folk North West.
Stop me and buy one, but digital and hard copies are available here: https://chrismanners.bandcamp.com/album/glad-of-what-i-got
Don’t Say Goodbye
Clogiron, the acoustic years. With vocal harmonies and a free banjo solo.
Stop me and buy one, though stocks are running low. You can also sample and download the tracks written by me here: https://chrismanners.bandcamp.com/album/dont-say-goodbye