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Chris Helme – The Rookery
“The upper twigs dip and wobble
With each almost two-point landing,
Then ride to rest. There is nothing
Else to do now only settle.”
-	Seamus Heaney, The Rookery
A beautifully orchestrated wilderness country / folk / rock album, ‘The Rookery’ is in this writer’s opinion without a doubt the finest work of Chris Helme’s career,  and a standard-setting 2012 release for the roots-orientated York scene of which Chris has long been a cornerstone artist. 
A rumination on the difficulty of being “settled” in an unsettled world, the importance of home, and on learning to find sanctuary in those things which one truly hold’s dear to one’s heart, the album returns to the characteristically adult lyrical themes Chris has explored on previous releases. What takes this collection of songs into a more progressive space than has been explored in Chris’ earlier work is the gently acid-spiked watercolour sonic palette in which these themes are presented, and as such much praise is due to producer and Nine Black Alps alum Sam Forrest. Quietly building an impressive back cat of credits on local Num Num Records and Desert Mine releases, Sam has developed a distinctive production style which embraces both the befuzzed Americana stylings of Nine Black Alps’ own lo-fi grunge-pop, and washes of spooked Wicker Man psychedelia inspired by the sprawling North Yorkshire countryside which surrounds his backwater studio. 
Anyone who has followed Chris’ career since he first came to national prominence as lead singer of John Squire’s post-Stone Roses Britpop outfit The Seahorses knows that he is in possession of a genuinely great rock ‘n’ soul voice, and it is wonderful to hear this voice harnessed as part of the colorful, patchwork quilt soundscape which has been so artfully sown together here. Draped in the ebb and flow of swirling string arrangements, creaking double-bass, and break-out moments of devilish fuzz guitar, Chris’ lead vocals offer a plaintive, pleading humanity, and are delivered with the firm-footed assuredness of a singer whose voice has from the earliest days of his career always commanded attention. 
Finally, what is most immediately impressive about The Rookery is the quality of songwriting, which is uniformly excellent . With the standard of songcraft notably strong throughout, it is worth noting that some 75% of the material Chris had originally earmarked for this release was scrapped during recording – whatever the dissatisfaction with the jettisoned material, the decision was the right one, and speaks to the high-standards that Chris had for this album. Melodies rooted in traditional folk structures are spun into delightful new shapes, while Chris’ ear for a memorable tune remains much in evidence. Writing solid pop hooks is the hardest songwriting trick to master; listeners will find themselves singing along to The Rookery’s many quietly effecting choruses after only one sitting. 
It is quite possible that The Rookery will become many people’s favourite release of the year. Fans of Led Zeppelin 3,  the extended Byrds/CSN&Y family tree, and the more mature pastoral-pop sound minted on the Coral’s recent work, will find the album very much to their taste. Dark, introspective acoustic passages give way to bursts of over-driven hand-clap power-pop, lilting folk instrumentals rub shoulders with electric raga-rock riffs. Sonically possessing a cohesiveness, playfulness and imagination which makes The Rookery highly listenable, and with strong vocals and song-craft to the fore, this is a charming album which is easy to fall in love with. A wide audience is deserved for what is Chris Helme’s finest release to date.
Paul Lowman, The Inkwell


Blindeye - snippet

Good to be in love - snippet

Longway round - snippet

Pickled ginger - snippet

Plane - snippet

Pleased - snippet

Set in stone - snippet

Summer girl - snippet

The Spindle & The Cauldron - snippet

Chris Helme interview with Heather MacLeod on Dublin City FM Radio 05/09/2012

Chris Helme session and interview RTE: Radio One Arena 05/09/2012

Chris Helme Interview on Culture Cafe on RTE 2XM 04/09/2012

Chris Helme Interview on Culture Cafe on RTE 2XM

Chris Helme's cover of the 1964 Ballad 'Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand) by Irma Thomas.

Anyone Who Knows What Love Is Will Understand

Chris Helme 's Upcoming Gigs
Fri 19 Dec, 14 
Solo Show, St Peters Church, Sudbury, United Kingdom

Powered by GigaTools

Chris Helme, who first rose to prominence as the front man of John Squire’s post-Stone Roses band ‘The Seahorses’ will release his brand new solo album on August 27th. Still rightfully remembered for the anthemic Britpop classics Love Is The Law and Blinded By The Sun - songs that evoked everything the 90’s stood for, the excitement, the culture and the bands that provided a voice in a period of political and social imbalance. Present day societal context may well in fact mirror those times but the man himself, now, appears cut from an entirely different cloth. 

Helme’s is an enviable back catalogue, bolstered further by his acclaimed works with The Yards, but it’s The Rookery’s knack for melody and imaginative, intricate, three-way guitar interplay that brings each track to such lush, blossoming, climaxes. Add to this Helme’s keen ear for arranging and those brooding string passages resonate even more deeply. 

Recorded in just 9 days at The Rookery, a country hideaway nestled in the wilds of the Yorkshire Dales, the album reveals a beguiling vulnerability in both Helme’s voice and lyrics. The wonderfully restrained Darkest Days’ somber refrain, ‘Following you, leads me astray’, rings out with the sentiment of changing direction, putting paid to past misdemeanors, while on the forthcoming single Long Way Round, Helme is found resolute in his plaintive cry, ‘Now you’ve found yourself, you’re on your own’.  An apt lyric indeed as his solo path turns this dramatic corner. 

There is plenty on offer here as Chris and producer Sam Forrest (Nine Black Alps) showcase their depth of sonic understanding as fuzzed out guitars are married with distorted Mellotron, melting strings, whistling feedback and haunting orchestral vocals. Melodies rooted in traditional folk structures are vividly reimagined on an album of startlingly rich variation. Even the Rolling Stones’ stomp of Daddy’s Farm bookended between the blues filth of Pleased and the gorgeously mellow Summer Girl, doesn’t stick out, testament to Helme’s most powerful weapon – his voice. 

This aspect to his music was never in question. From the earliest days of his career, his voice always commanded attention, and The Rookery’s variation is seemingly bound by this one continuous thread. File next to CSN&Y, Led Zeppelin 3, Buckley, The Coral, and enjoy. 

For all press enquiries please contact Jay Taylor at: jay@prescriptionpr.co.uk or call +44 (0) 1223 505328 

For all management enquires please contact Kate Smith at : kate@magnificentartists.com or call
 + 44 (0) 7969 421 943

www.chrishelme.co.uk


Chris Helme

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