ON THE DRY LAND

"On the Dry Land" is the second Sea Nymphs album, or actually the third, if we count 1984's "Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Mr. Drake" by the same trio then under that name, all of which are now available on CD via the Alphabet Business Concern website (and probably also elsewhere).

As is already implied, The Sea Nymphs are in fact Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Mr. Drake, namely Tim and Sarah Smith and William D. Drake of the Cardiacs. The material on this album was probably already recorded around 1992 but not finished until 2015/16 by the original trio, which means that this is the first and to this day (January 2020) only published piece of work on which Tim Smith had his hands after his heart attack in 2008. As such it should be very special to every Cardiacs fan, although the Sea Nymphs music is quite a bit different from the Cardiacs, much quieter, without electric guitars and mostly without conventional drums.

There is a great variety of instrumental sounds used on this album. William D. Drake gives us a lot of piano, all kinds of organs and a good range of other sounds including accordeon and almost mellotron-ey strings; actually he emulates half of an orchestra at times, probably supported by Tim Smith. Sarah Smith apparently plays some horn on top of her saxophone. All three sing, which works very well because of the different character of their voices. Tim's style is most well known through the Cardiacs, and this time well suitable for the songs he sings . Sarah gives us a good amount of her dreamy fairy-like voice, and Bill uses his charming town crier's voice still with youthful energy and (occasional) disregard for hitting the right notes.

I have already reviewed the first (or rather second, see above) Sea Nymphs album and wasn't fully convinced of it. I like "On the Dry Land" a good deal more, for a number of reasons. Firstly, the production, with which I took issue on the previous album, can't be faulted this time, and is much more even and transparent. Secondly, although the melodies are as tricky and convoluted as before, I find more properly memorable material on "On the Dry Land". My highlights are the iconic instrumental hymn "Mirmaid's Purse", the pastoral, keyboards and horn driven "Heaven Haven", and "A Kind of Keeper", the best of the Tim Smith guitar-dominated song. However, the whole album really shines in its variety. There are dream-like tracks with sustained melodies, more or less minimalist guitar-driven songs with Cardiacs-like twists and turns, adventurous 3 minutes mini-epics with a plethora of harmonies and melodies (I add "Sea Snake Beware" to the earlier list of highlights), children's melodies, a delightful 23 seconds piano etude, fun fair carousel music to make you dizzy and more, including some faster material.

Overall it's a very joyful affair, inventive as before, but this time also better balanced, with a well working order of songs given the listeners the changes they need, and denser with quality material. Actually going back to the earlier Sea Nymphs album, "On the Dry Land" has worked as something of a guide, and I find more in that one now.

This is surely not your average prog album, which is already clear from the fact that it has 15 tracks and is just 34:10 long (pity!), still it comes with the amount of ideas with which other bands would fill an hour or more. The sound has elements of the Cardiacs and William D. Drakes solo work, and a number of songs are strongly dominated by one of the musicians, but the Sea Nymphs style is ultimately very unique, something to dream and to maybe enjoy all the beauties of underwater scenery (Sea Nymphs is a very fitting band name), relaxed flowing with some swirls rather than driving forward. The Sea Nymphs gave an interview in Prog magazine where they say that there is another album worth of material waiting to be finished and released, so there may be more to look forward to. 4.1 stars.