Stanley Brinks – aka André Herman Düne – returns with the new double album ‘Vieilles Canieques / Nouvelles Caniques’, the follow up to 2016’s Record Store Day Release ‘Turtle Dove’. Once again he is joined by the Norwegian folk collective The Kaniks, this time stripped back to a two piece of fiddle and banjo, ‘The Old Time Kaniks’.
This double album of modern-day folk tales of love, loss and mischief, was recorded during the same time period as ‘Turtle Dove,’ on a remote island outside the small town of Egersund in south-west Norway. Over the course of a week of midnight sun, midnight swims and midnight beers on their isolated rocky island, they lived and worked in the only building there, the now-unmanned mid 19th century Vibberodden lighthouse. Take a listen to Right Down My Alley, our Song of the Day:
Originally planned as two separate albums, the fact they were recorded on consecutive days, with the same band, it felt natural to present them as a double.
Thematically, apart from the titles – ‘Vieilles Caniques/Nouvelles Caniques’ ‘Old Kaniks/New Kaniks’ – there are some subtle differences between the two, a little more heartbreak and longing on the first, the second, lyrically a touch more content or resolved, something transitional in the life of Stanley Brinks maybe…though there’s plenty of songs about drinking on both too…!
So possibly, the recording of ‘Old’ followed by an evening partying through the night in the lighthouse with André, transformed to the (bleary eyed/sore headed) ‘New’ the following morning!
Brinks is renowned for his unique anti-folk style: both playful and suggestive, insightful and entertaining. His mastery of storytelling, presented in both English and French on these albums, brings us to the heart of the free-spirited world of Brinks’ life as a touring musician.
His fondness for calypso and the unusual provide the perfect foil to The Kaniks, whose folk instrumentation and country and bluegrass influences take this double album to a joyous place Brinks hasn’t been before in his extensive back catalogue.
“Turtle Dove is a welcome addition to Stanley Brinks’ back catalogue; he’s one of the most imaginative and accomplished songwriters around today with an unerring instinct for creating atmospheric and engaging albums. Along with his collaborators, The Kaniks, Stanley Brinks has made yet another glorious album which celebrates the individuality of us all at the same time as it reminds us we’re not all that different, really, under the skin. I can see it becoming an indispensable part of my summer soundtrack and am very much looking forward to hearing the other two albums in this trilogy of Nordic antifolk. Great stuff!” Folk Radio UK (read the full review here)
Stanley Brinks was born in Paris, France, in 1973. He studied a bit of biology and worked as a nurse for a while. Half Swedish, half Moroccan, strongly inclined to travel the world, he soon began spending most of his life on the road and developed a strong relationship with New York. By the late 90s he’d become a full-time singer-songwriter – André Herman Düne – as part of three-piece indie-rock band, Herman Düne. Several albums and Peel sessions later and after a decade of touring Europe, mostly with American songwriters such as Jeffrey Lewis, Calvin Johnson and early Arcade Fire he settled in Berlin. The early carnival music of Trinidad became a passion, and in the early 21st century he became the unquestioned master of European calypso, changing his name to Stanley Brinks. Under this moniker, he has recorded more than 100 albums, collaborated with the New York Antifolk scene on several occasions, recorded and toured with traditional Norwegian musicians, and played a lot with The Wave Pictures.
Vieilles Canieques / Nouvelles Caniques is released 6th January 2016 via Fika Recordings
Pre-Order it here: shop.fikarecordings.com/
The post Premiere and New Double Album from Stanley Brinks & The Old Time Kaniks appeared first on Folk Radio UK.