It’s one thing to be a late developer and in some genres – Blues especially – you’re seen as considerably more credible if you continue well beyond pensionable age, but few people wait to hit 70 before releasing their first record.
Ex-pearl diver and boat skipper SEAMAN DAN did just that, though. Despite being a veteran of the 1950s Australian fishing industry – with a keen interest in music as a sideline – he only made his recorded debut with 2001’s “Follow The Sun.”
“Steady, Steady,” its’ erstwhile follow up is, admittedly, only very distantly related to the kinds of things we normally write about in these pages, but frankly when DAMON ALBARN can release his “Mali Music” album and receive a bouquet of plaudits, why the hell shouldn’t we embrace someone as authentic, laid-back and downright enjoyable as SEAMAN DAN?
“Steady, Steady” (referring to a local sailing term meaning to sail a pearl lugger steadily into the current so divers can work safely below) basks in a melange of musical stylings including hula, blues, jazz and even ragtime, with the songs’ lyrics (often by DAN himself) usually adopting maritime themes. The supporting musical cast, meanwhile, features players from Australia, Europe, North America and Polynesia and includes ex-STEELEYE SPAN drummer Nigel Pegrum.
Curiously, although the colourful hula stylings of songs like the opening “Somewhere There’s An Island” and the closing “Torres Strait Hula” are pleasant enough, for this reviewer, it’s the clutch of songs bang in the centre of “Steady, Steady” that truly hit home.
The gentle, 50s-influenced title track is the first of these. Ultra-relaxing with brushed drums and lazy flugelhorn, in less capable hands it would be deeply mawkish, but somehow here feels just right. “Barron Delta Blue” also has a typically somnolent sound, but the banjo/ ukelele picking, loping rhythm and snaking clarinet really burrow under your skin.
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In sequential order, the ensuing three tracks are the finest things here. “Running Aground” examines the similar perils of seafaring and relationships, while dragging bluesy guitar licks, soulful horn stabs and Steve Gilbert’s inimitable Chicago-style harmonica solo from its’ stern.
“Return To Me”, meanwhile, allows SEAMAN DAN to delve even deeper into the blues, with finger-clicks, stand-up bass and Mark Mannock’s smoky organ motifs the perfect accompaniment to DAN’S after hours lament. But it’s “A Song For Leilani” that takes the Blue Riband. A seriously tender, evocative love song full of hope and redemption, it just melts around the swooning strings, oboe solo and SEAMAN DAN’S vulnerable vocals. Gorgeous, in a word.
After this zenith, the remainder of “Steady, Steady” – though never less than pleasant – seems slightly anti-climactic. “Thank You For Saying Hello” has a gentle, jazzy vibe and the remaining trio (including the traditional Torres Strait sailing tune “Gubaw Paruka”) flit by happily enough, but don’t engage the listener to quite the same degree.
Nonetheless, you could do far worse than take SEAMAN DAN’S gently seductive music to your heart. Indeed, “Steady, Steady” may be a calming breeze rather than the eye of the zeitgeist hurricane, but its’ warm, laid-back humanity makes a quiet mockery of our usual musical prejudices. And that’s no harm at all.
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