Three years ago English art rock/folk/prog quartet Sweet Billy Pilgrim’s second album Twice Born Men, took the world by storm. The follow-up Crown And Treaty, is a similarly impressive effort. Benefitting from a bigger budget (their previous album was recorded in a garden shed) and better songwriting, this is one of the most ambitious and inventive efforts you’ll hear all year.
Opening with the bombastic ‘Joyful Reunion’, the record ranges from Radiohead-esque anthems (‘Brugada’) to beautiful nu-folk numbers that Fleet Foxes would flog their flannel shirt collection for (‘Blakefield Gold’). The recruitment of guitarist and singer Jana Carpenter has proved something of a masterstroke as her back-up vocals really add depth to singer/songwriter Tim Elsenburg’s melodies (see ‘Shadow Captain’). Sweet Billy Pilgrim are at the peak of their powers. One to cherish.