Captain Of The Lost Waves: Beautiful Ugly. Album Review. | Liverpool Sound and Vision

Lazland – Review

In 2022, Captain of the Lost Waves (Shaun T Hunter) and his family were caught up in a road traffic accident, a stolen vehicle being chased by the police smashing into them. On serious pain relief and other medication, this wonderful album, Beautiful Ugly, was created, a testament to the indefatigability of this man and, I think, humanity. We are capable of so much, if only we put our heart and soul into it. I might add here that my research prior to publishing these words saw that his wife and son have both had medical issues of late, and this website sends its love and best wishes for recovery.

The artist is rightly highly regarded across the roots scene, and this album is a deeply reflective and thoughtful work. As most of my readers are, of course, connoisseurs of progressive rock music, I would state unequivocally that if you rate (as I do) the solo work of Anthony Phillips as up there with the best, then you will love this album.

It is, though, an album which is extremely difficult to both categorise and write about. Having listened multiple times, each instance brings a different set of words and meanings, and therein, of course, lies its attraction and importance, music and lyrics which bring something new each time, which demand attention and most certainly respect. Therefore, the words you read here pertain to my thoughts this weekend. They were different last weekend. They will be different next weekend, and each which follows, and this is as strong a recommendation I am able to give you.

The Captain sings, and plays bouzouki and guitar, and he is joined by Damian Clark on keyboards & synths, with Wendy Ross on the violin.

The Bandcamp page is at https://captainofthelostwaves.bandcamp.com/ and the album is released on the day of the publication of this review (30th September 2024). His website is at https://captainofthelostwaves.com/

So, nine tracks here, and we open with Obsidian Whispers, the artist speaking out in the kingdom of the nihilistic and cynical. The soundscapes created by Clark are atmospheric, and the whole track is a spacey yet powerful work, the acoustic guitar work a backdrop to a unique voice. A very strong start.

Dirty Windows follows, and it lyrically takes us to the ancient Middle East, Torah, but through the (dirty) window of our modern sensibilities, many of the timeless truths that we still refuse to see with our grasping and leeching. The voice is plaintive, the instrumentation gently washing Sumerian landscapes over us.

Success In Failure has a video, and this is embedded below for you to enjoy, this the first single from the album. The voice is a prime example of the art of making powerful words reverb across aural senses without the need to shout and scream, this a meditation on our notions of what constitutes success and failure. It is also, I believe a song of deep love, and when he sings “the most natural thing I can do is put my arms around you”, it is aching, and the conclusion is dramatic with the synths rising.

Gothic Balladeer is a corker of a title, and references the Yazadis, the Kurdish group who suffered so much during the Islamic State “caliphate”, and my take on the words is a song about how reality can be twisted by perception, usually deliberately planted, but said balladeer is constant, telling us truths of the ages. Ross shines on this track, her work oozing sadness for the deaths of one or millions, each a tragedy, whilst Clark continues to provide the essential soundscape above The Captain’s core voice and guitar.

Older is reflective in only the way that life experience can bring, revisiting success and failure, and expressing surprise that he has made it thus far. I empathise with that. My two best friends were both lost to me in their early fifties, and I miss them dreadfully, whilst wondering how I escaped their fate, but that is what it is, the roll of the dice, and we shouldn’t reduce it to fairness, cruelty, or anything other than the way it is, and that is what I take as a personal meaning from this piece. The “older than the” sequence brings brightness to the thoughts, the closing words, though, disappearing into a void of nothing, and not even knowing that. Very clever and very good, it is embedded below.

A Joyful Disturbance follows, and it references Mamihlapinatapai, a word (it is South American) said to be amongst the hardest on our planet to translate, but said in that fine journal, Mr Wikipedia, to mean “a look that without words is shared by two people who want to initiate something, but that neither will start”. You don’t get that on a typical Taylor Swift song, do you?! It must reference his beloved, with thoughts of ancient and modern mating or loving rituals, including the use of exotic pharmaceuticals, but the core is the abandonment of self to that essential bond between two people, something I have blissfully enjoyed these past twenty-four years. This is a gorgeous love song, voices and synths merging into a ritualistic celebration.

I think Vesper Flights might reference the work of the same name by Helen McDonald which is a transcendent collection of essays about our relationship with the natural world. This is as light a symphonic arrangement as you will hear, the keyboards and violin especially wistful and ghostly. The final minute is to these ears the core of an extended piece that should feature one day (if he was invited) to a BBC Proms concert.

The penultimate track is Neighbourhood, a piece about the contradictions of self sometimes, not born to be a stranger, but always feeling out of place, built not simply to take orders, but questioning everything that is asked, and the feeling sometimes that one is the only being in the neighbourhood. The whole song is yearning, some of the sounds being made orchestrally powerful, yet understated at the same time. A beautiful piece of music for our times and a true highlight of 2024.

The title track closes proceedings, referencing again ancient Hebrew text and a Tibetan mountain at the roof of the sky, lyrically again pointing out so many contradictions of society, life, and self, beautiful ugly, about as decent a description of this crazy race I have ever heard, and musically, there is the sense of drama throughout, at times quite urgent and insistent, but also chorally bright and inviting.

An album which is highly recommended. A joy from start to finish.

Expose Online – Review

by Peter Thelen, Published 2024-11-21

It was only a couple years ago that we reviewed one of the Captain’s earlier releases, Hidden Gems Chapter 3 – Mysterium Tremendum, in that review I declared it was “a brilliant album that deserves to be heard by all,” and I still stand by that, it was a powerful mix of folk, troubadour, and rock styles with great vocals and arrangements informed by world music elements. The latest album, Beautiful Ugly, is a little different, a far more gentle and atmospheric collection, same great songwriting and vocals, but the arrangements eschew much of the rock power that was present on the earlier album — where that album featured The Captain and five other musicians, this time out he has a much leaner crew: The Captain sings and plays bouzouki, mandolin, and guitar, with Damian Clark on keyboards, synthesizer, and sound design, and Wendy Ross on violins. Clark and Ross were both there on the previous album, but there were also drums, electric guitars, bass, and trumpet, which are absent on this voyage, thereby contributing to the more gentle, folky, and sometimes understated approach. Granted, there were some songs like these before, but the higher energy arrangements are not to be found in these nine tracks, instead opting for the loftier and delicate style that support the vocals superbly. Ross’ massed string arrangements near the end of “Vesper Flights” are quite beautiful, and it’s hard to argue about a song like “Neighborhood,” that is nothing short of stunning in its own right. One can take a piece like “Dirty Windows” that features only voices, zouk, acoustic guitar, and synths, and make a pretty compelling argument for these leaner arrangements as a superior showcase for his compositions. The title track closes the set, an astonishing piece that exists solely on gentle arrangements of acoustic guitars, synths, and multi-layered harmonies. All taken, it is what it is, and it’s hard to fault an artist for wanting to take his craft in a new direction, but one should know that the wild sonic variety of the previous album has given way to something more gentle and unified here.

Never has an album of mine been greeted with such a kindred, deeply synchronistic, almost spooky connection between all of the listeners far and wide who keep picking out themes of symmetrical wonder and the daringly miraculous…

REVIEW – Beautiful Ugly

‘Beautiful Ugly’: The fervent anticipation of experiencing a forthcoming event of great import has forever teased and tested the patience of the most ardent supporter of the artist and their work, and with this thought ensconced firmly to mind we prepare, once more, to immerse ourselves in the latest cornucopia of exquisitely crafted brilliance presented by Captain of the Lost Waves.

‘Beautiful Ugly’, an album title borne from the ashes of still vivid memories of past trauma, from the long and often arduous road to recovery and from the constant searching of one’s soul for the often elusive peace, an expressive title that categorically suggests beauty can indeed be inspired by, and ultimately rise triumphant from, great adversity and the ugliness that surrounds us all.

‘Beautiful Ugly’, nine precious jewels of poetry, each one an ethereal soliloquy sourced from personal experience and astute observation, conceived by the rejuvenated Captain.

From a familiar vibrato vocal lilt, buoyed on a sympathetically arranged descending crescendo of synthesiser and acoustic instrumentality, ‘Obsidian Whispers’, it’s title suggesting a darker, guarded lyrical content, introduces a nine track collection whose dynamic throughout relies not on a cliched crash-chord, big bass and thunderous percussive cacophony, but rather on ethereal waves of symphonically layered synthesiser, violin, bouzouki, mandolin, acoustic guitar and the undulating, engagingly melodic timbre of the Captain’s unique vocal stylings.

Absorbing each lyric, one might surmise that a concept runs throughout this engaging collection. If, indeed, this was the artist’s intent, the concept might be viewed as realising triumph from the depths of despair, rediscovering direction when life’s fickle and often cruel compass was lost, celebrating life and a renewed sense of well-being, confident and re-energised to mine the rich vein of creativity once more.

“Scent of a new arrival, from such inquisitions you once digressed, I know that you will find success in failure, failure in success.” Excerpt from ‘Success in Failure’.

‘Beautiful Ugly’; A collection of unquestionable importance; to the Captain himself, who bares his soul so benevolently through his exquisitely crafted art to ‘the Waifs’, upon whose love and unwavering support he gratefully continues to re-engage his creativity, and revitalise his need to wander, and to those discerning connoisseur travellers of the ether yet to experience the sublime verse and jovial musings of this divinely gifted wanderer poet.

‘Beautiful Ugly’; A defining moment in the unfolding evolution of a truly original and important artist. An honest work of sublime, engaging beauty…

“You feel pushed out and overlooked, you’re addicted and it seems you are hooked, tell me you’re beautiful ugly too?” Except from ‘Beautiful Ugly’.

‘Beautiful Ugly ‘: Sheer bloody poetry… A resounding triumph over adversity, a masterpiece…

J.B. Bass – Author

REVIEW from a musical bystander at the TIN SHED SAT APRIL 13th 2024

I wanted to tell you something Captain…

I’ve come across so many musicians in my life that I honestly can’t even begin to keep count of them all. It is only those that truly stand out for me that stay in my consciousness forever. These are few and far between.

You see, talent is unmistakable when you hear it but for me that’s nowhere near enough on its own.

For me more than anything else are the people behind the music that give a wonderful window into that individual’s character, craft, soul, and beauty. These are the rarest of individuals.

I’ve seen a few acts since I’ve been in the UK and I have to say honestly that so very few of them have left me with any kind of feeling that I’ve genuinely experienced something magical.

The greatest musicians always leave you asking yourself if you could do more with your own music…

You are all of those things and more good sir…

and I thank you ’ John Rawlin Silvers

A beautifully touching write up by Louise Edwards from The Tin Shed, Mold, Wales. April 13th 2024

It’s safe to say that Captain Of The Lost Waves is one of the most eclectic musicians to grace our little Tin Shed stage to date. He entertained with his unique voice, stage style and presence, and delivered the most heartfelt lyrics through his beautiful songs. A beautifully touching write up by Louise Edwards from The Tin Shed. It’s safe to say that Captain Of The Lost Waves is one of the most eclectic musicians to grace our little Tin Shed stage to date. He entertained with his unique voice, stage style and presence, and delivered the most heartfelt lyrics through his beautiful songs.

Last night he was joined on stage by the wonderfully talented Wendy Ross on violin, what a fabulous musical pairing they make. Audience participation was a key feature of the night with plenty of singing along and even additional accompaniment by two randomly picked kazoo players!!

One of the final songs of the night, my personal favourite ‘Mr Many Men’, was performed from a chair, elevating the Captain to dizzying new heights! We were incredibly grateful for his ability to balance so well whilst playing, singing and engaging with the audience!!

The evening got off to a wonderful start with surprise guest, multi-instrumentalist, singer songwriter, Elfin Bow (aka Elizabeth Anne Silvers) accompanied by Tracey-Anne Green . Elfin and the Captain have been musically connected for many years but this was the first time they’d met in ‘real life’ and it was a treat for them and the audience to be able to perform together.

As always, we want to thank YOU the audience for continuing to support the music we put on here at The Tin Shed. It warms our hearts to see the Tin Shed community continue to grow and we thank all of you, especially those who travel such a long distance to be here.

Captain Of The Lost Waves: Success In Failure. Single Review.

Fatea Review – Success In Failure, from new album Beautiful Ugly

Partly spoken, partly sung over a soundscape of keyboards, building to a peak, and fading gently away, much like a wave. The Captain’s “musical offerings are inspired by the great songwriters and philosophers of yesteryear. This is visceral music for the mind and body, full of dreamy verses, life affirming choruses and sheer audacity. Where melodic invention meets alternative folk, progressive, world and ambient sounds” – couldn’t put it better, visit his website as well which is full of interesting snippets of stories. Strange but wonderful. TM

Hidden gems Chapter 3 – Mysterium Tremendum Reviews

RnR (Rock n Reel )

The Captain is a one off, an enigma and a compelling musical force of nature. He has turned down multiple attempts to sign him up to TV talent show appearances. Fiercely independent, he ploughs a distinctive but evolving musical journey. I was going to use the word ‘path’ but that is not appropriate since, as his moniker suggests, he travels buffeted by the unruly and unpredictable waves of life.

Mysterium Tremendum – Album Review

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The art of the Progressive mind is one that is steeped in revolution whilst not willing to trade personal creativity for the temptation of fame, fortune, or compromising with the Devil who calls the tune it doesn’t stop them from expanding the nature of their art, from being willing souls wanting to embark on a new adventure.

Whether it is in the imagination of the battlefield as they tackle the stealth of beige and the rounds fired by the demographic of the dull, or as the Captain Of The Lost Waves who seeks new horizons in which to come about full sail and capture the treasure available in the form of hearts and minds as they encounter thehidden gems, the result in the end is the same, one of progressive tendencies sought, captured, and framed for all to marvel at.

The Captain in this case has sailed the oceans in search of a bounty that the crew and the loved ones standing upon the docks of Liverpool, Southampton, and Whitby, could only dream of witnessing as its waved from the deck of the good ship, as it is paraded through the town as if it was in the realm of miracles, and yet there is much more to the new album by Captain Of The Lost Waves, Hidden Gems Chapter 3 – Mysterium Tremendum, for in its progressive pursuit it actually becomes an incalculable release that is pure gold, untarnished, remarkable, gold.

The name is arguably still wrapped under the cover of innocence as far as the greater audience is concerned, but the treat missed does not mean it has been ignored, and as tracks such as A Million Light Bulbs, Getaway Drivers, Animals On An Island, the superb Death Of The Attention Span, How Big The Small Can Be, Plastic Flowers For The Stone Hearts, and the thrilling finale of the album’s title track, Mysterium Tremendum, what comes through is attention, not a demand, there is far too much class within the soul of the artist for that, but of command of pleasure that is evident, the bliss of the willingness to be taken on a journey, strange, intriguing, perhaps unexpected but nevertheless extraordinary, and it is amazing from start to finish.

Hidden Gems, hidden no more, for in is reveal so the mystery is explained, and for the Captain Of The Lost Waves, this latest release is one of remarkable vision and dedication; absolutely outstanding. 9/10 

Ian D. Hall

REVIEW by FATEA Magazine…by John Reeds 

Artist: Captain of the Lost Waves

The Captain is a man born out of his time. Had this music been released in the mid-late 1970s, he would have rightfully taken his place among those who we now regard as Rock Gods. This is innovative yet accessible music, hugely quirky, with moments of singalong amid the extremely fine instrumentation and arrangement. For fans of progressive rock, progressive folk, or whatever label you like to stick it with, this is an album you should own. It might be his best yet.

A UK based, Yorkshire born musician and man of mystery, the Captain describes his music as “nu-Vaudeville and folk opera”. On the one hand this is music without limits, yet there is a cohesion about it and a particular style. It is theatrical, it is expansive, and for anyone with a true sense of adventure, it is welcoming. There are short songs amid the longer epics, with the final song of the album – the title track – in this world of soundbites and flashing images, challenging your senses for a full 13 minutes. This is not an album for short attention spans. It demands to be listened to from one end to the other.

There are complimentary comparisons to be drawn covering the many ages of rock music, from the earliest Pink Floyd through their ’70s heyday, to Yes, Genesis, and from more recent times there are definite undertones of Moby, but that is just my perception and we all have different takes on art and music, so when you give Mysterium Tremendum a deep listen, do so with open ears and an open mind.

“INTRO – PRETENDING TO BE A PERSON” sets the mood for the album: a clear, compelling vocal delivering clever lyrics over a beautifully arranged soundscape. “A MILLION LIGHTBULBS” moves from the surreal and atmospheric to a more catchy, conventional beat. The bouzouki underpinning the song gives it a pop-folk feel, and there is a subtle brass backing that gives the feeling it should be a single.

“CLARABELLE” has a darker introduction, and I could be wrong but the reference in the lyrics to “the station master’s house” indicates origins in a reaction to Rev. W. Awdry’s ‘Thomas The Tank Engine’. I’ve often thought about reacting to Thomas the Tank Engine, but do shoot me down if I’ve misinterpreted here! “GETAWAY DRIVERS” percussively introduces a Moorish sound from the bouzouki, before launching into its incredibly catchy chorus refrain. If this isn’t an earworm by the end of your first day of listening to this album, I would ve very surprised indeed. At eight minutes’ long this song shouldn’t be able to command that level of catchiness, but it does, very successfully, and to the point where this is one of my stand out tracks from the album.

The approaching surf of “QUIETER” gives the listener space to absorb what has gone before, and the clue to this song is in the title. It’s a song that illustrates what a good voice the Captain is blessed with. It really is very ‘Syd Barrett’ in tone, and in its light-hearted delivery, but this is also an incredibly well constructed song, which I found spellbinding from my first listen. “ANIMALS ON AN ISLAND” jolts you from the calm, again hitting you with a catchy chorus refrain almost from the off. This is pure theatre, and the stuff of rock operas.

The Moorish element in the Captain’s music reappears for “DEATH OF THE ATTENTION SPAN”, in a song that shows the quality of his arrangements, and the superb musicianship underlying the whole album. This is modern psychedelia at its very best, with cleverly placed progressive rhythm guitar and bass giving the song its fresh drive. “NOISE AND AMUSEMENTS” appears at first to be what the title describes, but then switches mood into a song that would have graced some of the better glam rock bands of the 1970s. More of a commercial song, this is also single quality.

The more acoustic “HOW BIG THE SMALL CAN BE” is a hugely empowering and positive song, beautifully crafted and sensitively delivered in the Captain’s unique style. It is followed by another anthemically-chorused song, “PLASTIC FLOWERS FOR STONE HEARTS”, which is a real foot tapper, and another whose chorus refrain you will be singing in the shower.

“I DON’T SEE YOU” slows the pace again for an essential spell of calms to absorb the previous song, and this is an absolute beauty. If pushed, this would be my firm favourite song on the album, with a gorgeous build. “PAPER AEROPLANES” is a rattling good psych-folk song where the Captain’s lyrical qualities once again hit home, a commentary on the fact that our lives at times seem directionless: “we are beginners all our lives”.

The epic “MYSTERIUM TREMENDUM” restores the darkness of mood created by the introduction to “CLARABELLE”, with an almost Gregorian chant refrain before two minutes of silence. Its resumption to the sound of a thunderstorm and Tony Banks style synth-backed gives way to a multi-layered song of rises and falls, pulls and pushes that would make a perfect finale to any production.

“Mysterium Tremendum” is a thoroughly enjoyable album. It is actually astonishing, but you really must give yourself time to listen all the way through for a full appreciation. Having done so three times now, I could easily listen again, picking out things I missed on the previous passes.

Expose Online Review

Occasionally something comes in for review that’s so unusual and outstanding that it’s nearly impossible to categorize or identify where its influences lie, and we will be dealing with one of those in this review, the fourth album by the Captain of the Lost Waves. This is the third album in the Hidden Gems trilogy, with the appropriate subtitle Mysterium Tremendum, a surprising mash-up of folk, prog, acoustic and world music, but even that still doesn’t come close to describing what’s here. The Captain is a troubadour, a storyteller and so it’s said, a free thinking renegade who writes songs that are at once unusual and dreamy, sometimes powerful and rocking, at other times softer, intuitive and spirited, rife with invention. It is said that the captain, in addition to being a eccentric songwriter and a gifted singer, is a master accordionist, and plays a number of unusual stringed instruments like oud, bouzouki, Lauto, and much more, and it’s their use that contributes to the world music flavor on many of the songs herein. He is backed by several other musicians playing the standard stuff like bass, drums, guitars, additional vocals and whatnot, but like the captain himself, their true identities remain a mystery. The program begins with “Intro / Pretending To Be A Person,” an ambient intro with strange voices singing in some unknown language that gives way to the gentle folk sound of “Pretending..” that introduces the Captain’s unmistakable vocals. The next tune, “A Million Lightbulbs,” picks up the pace some with a strong catchy melody, a trend that continues with “Clarabelle,” with its mysterious and dark sounding pulses that provide a bed for the powerful vocals and mellotron, but it’s “Getaway Drivers In A Stolen Car” that starts out with a melody on oud before the singing begins, an eight-minute piece that navigates through numerous sections returning to the refrain that will get stuck in the listener’s mind for days, before settling down to the more gentle “Quieter” for a change in pace. Other standouts include “Noise And Amusements,” “Plastic Flowers For Stone Hearts,” “Paper Aeroplanes” and the mildly psychedelic “Animals On An Island.” Interestingly the title track comes at the end, the first part of a thirteen minute bloc that contains at least three additional hidden tracks.

This is such a brilliant album that deserves to be heard by all.

Filed under: New releases, 2022 releases

The Other Side Reviews – Single – Death Of The Attention Span – Nicole Mendes, September 14th 2022 – art rock, indie folk

Described by Tom Robinson (BBC6 Music) as “…completely extraordinary…”, Captain of the Lost Waves exceeds the average and makes the impossible possible. A storyteller by nature, his music connects with listeners as he shares intimate musical tales within genre-defying melodies. This is my introduction to Captain of the Lost Waves, but the UK-based Captain has been turning heads across the globe featured on Hollywood Digest, The Huffington Post and Rock N Reel (to name a few). Further accolades include being voted as Acoustic Roots Performer at the Leeds Independent Music Awards in 2005, and Outstanding Songwriter of the Year from the Yorkshire Gig Guide Awards in 2017.

The brainchild of Shaun T Hunter, Captain of the Lost Waves’ music is “…visceral music for the mind and body.” Inspired by various performers from different decades, such as Kate Bush, Genesis, Tears For Fears, Talking Heads, Zombies and Brian Eno, the Captain has a sound that is truly unique. One of his most recent releases is the single ‘Death of the Attention Span’ – the track we will be reviewing today. Want to join us?

Taken off his album Hidden Gems Chapter 3 (the closer to the Hidden Gems trilogy), ‘Death of the Attention Span’ is an ethereal, mystical musical experience. Penned and recorded during strict Covid lockdowns, Hidden Gems Chapter 3 is a labour of love for the Captain. It affected him both physically and mentally as he was also dealing with family health challenges at the time – challenges that are ongoing. I suppose it is then apt that the Captain uses music as a form of communication and therapy where he creates “authentic exchanges between an artist and his audience, based on shared humanity.”

Alright, where was I? Oh yes, ‘Death of the Attention Span’.

With the strict lockdown in place, the four musicians involved in ‘Death of the Attention Span’ recorded their sections separately all coming together in an online collaboration. Interestingly enough, while the song was put together online, it has a strong live band feeling to it. A provocative Indian flavour runs through the sonic tapestry making it slightly obscure, but enjoyably so. Bold vocals blend with dynamic guitars and pounding drums to make this sonic tapestry really shine within the kaleidoscopic soundscape.

Sincere, sentimental and with genuinely groovy vibes, ‘Death of the Attention Span’ is an otherworldly experience.

Another wonderful 5 star review of ‘Mysterium Tremendum’ from highly respected Norwegian journalist, Olav Martin Bjørnsen.

5 STAR REVIEW

Prolusion.

Following various adventures in bands and project constructions, the person who prefers to be referenced as The Captain launched his solo project Captain of the Lost Waves some years ago, with a small handful of albums released under this moniker so far. This spring The Captain is back with his fourth studio album “Hidden Gems III: Mysterium Tremendum”, released on the label Brigand Broadcasting Company (which rather cheekily can be abbreviated as BBC).

Analysis.

The music explored by Captain of the Lost Waves is one that defies most genres, conventions and borders, and on this latest album The Captain and his collaborators do their best to take this to a new level. While I do write these words for a website specializing in progressive rock a good case could be argued for this album perhaps not really having a home within this context. Then again, a good case could also be argued for the music not having a more suitable context. As the album title indicates these are hidden gems, and the defiance to traditions and conventions is perhaps what makes them more hidden than they deserve to be: This is an album that in the right circumstances would be a commercial success story, and a production that deserves a lot more attention than it will ever get I’m afraid.

Acoustic music and folk music are key elements throughout this production, with plucked guitars and possibly other string instruments a recurring and central element throughout, although my impression is that the singer/songwriter tradition is much more prevalent than traditional folk music. World music elements and arrangements with a bit oiif a tribal aspect to them is a part of the totality too, and strikingly in line with the project name we get a composition that appears to orient itself a bit more towards the shanty tradition too.

Complementing and expanding upon the core elements are various forms of keyboard textures, from ethereal and beautiful floating keyboard motifs to cosmic and futuristic sounds, drones and effects, while the rhythm section when present does a fine job of adding subtle support. A plethora of other instrument details expands the landscapes in many of the different songs, but often if not mainly in a more subtle and careful manner.

As much as one can describe the music and the instruments, the dominant limelight are rightfully given to the vocals here. The Captain has a very fine voice of the kind that has a close to universal appeal, and he is a master of using his register to the full and to infuse his vocals with strong and distinct vocals. Strong in this case meaning to use his voice to the best effect possible, with a more soft and delicate delivery perhaps being something of a specialty of his. If he is a schooled vocalist or one with a self-developed natural talent here I don’t know, but as a vocalist The Captain has a voice and a voice control that many singers can envy him. As far as sheer emotional vocal impact goes, personally I’d sort him just about on the same level as Floor Jansen – although I’d stress that as vocalists they are obviously very different in terms of range, character and the modes and types of vocal styles they master.

Conclusion.

Captain of the Lost Waves is a hidden gem in the UK music scene as well as on the world stage. For my sake I hope he does get the attention his music deserves at some point, with the arguably folk and acoustic based but ultimately genre and convention defying music and his expertise at conjuring beautiful and alluring landscapes. With brilliant lead vocals and vocal harmonies emphasizing the moods and atmospheres crafted by the instruments in use. Those with an interest in the more folk-oriented aspects of progressive rock will undoubtedly be the best audience for this album as seen from a progressive rock oriented point of view, but as far as I’m concerned this is a production that should have a wide appeal and a broader appeal beyond progressive rock circles than within it. A highly recommended album.

Olav “Progmessor” Björnsen, May 2022

*MYSTERIUM TREMENDUM* 5/5

Another wondrous review from the esteemed New Zealand based music critic/ writer Kev Rowland.

When it comes to musicians, there are few who are guaranteed to be rushed to the player as soon as a new album arrives, trumping whatever state my review list is currently in, but Captain of the Lost Waves certainly sits within that small but perfectly defined group. His releases tend to have “review killer” status, as when I start listening to his music I don’t want to play anything else, which means I am just not getting to the others I should be spending time on. “Just once more all the way through” I justify to myself, and then sit back and spend the whole evening listening to one of the most vibrant and important musicians around. The Captain has no management, no label, and refuses to compromise one iota to his own musical ideas and vision. Even a pandemic could not stop him, even though he had to isolate more than most and did much of his recording at home, as did the other three core musicians, using just two guests to create a multi-layered masterpiece. He refuses anything which impact his musical ideal, and if that means he needs to perform 40 backing tracks to a song, then that is what he does (“Animals On An Island”), and if he needs to record until nearly 4:00 in the morning to get things right then that is okay as well (“Noise and Amusements”). He said he wanted to directly reference different influences in this album, including Jeff Waynes War Of The Worlds and Tangerine Dream to early Genesis and Leonard Cohen, taking in Jean Michel Jarre, 10CC, Vangelis, Japan, Talking Heads, Ennio Morricone, Kraftwerk, Zombies, Talk Talk, Harold Budd and Brian Eno to sacred choral and mystical world music. That is quite some mix, yet one can hear all of them, often laid over the top of each other. Take “Getaway Drivers” for example which has obvious Kraftwerk connotations, yet there is also folk, modern classical, 10CC, Japan and so much more besides. The Captain is a magpie, bringing together shin bits and pieces from wherever he finds them, curating them and turning the into something which is far more than the sum of the individual parts. In his hands, a lute or mandolin sound perfectly at home in a modern pop rock song. His music is always incredibly layered, yet there is a reason for everything and still plenty of room for individual instruments to shine, and it is often whatever stringed instrument he is playing which is at the forefront. Here we have an album which seems to contain a bit of everything, but at the heart there is one man singing and accompanying himself, with songs which can be performed solo yet in this environment have been lifted into a different musical frame altogether. I have no doubt in my mind that when we get to the end of the year this will rate highly in my Top 5, as I cannot imagine many reaching these heights as the oxygen and room is incredibly sparse up there and only the very few have the strength and staying power. Yet again COTLW has released a very special album indeed, and if you have yet to investigate this amazing singer/songwriter then you need to do so now.

Progtector: March 2022

*MYSTERIUM TREMENDUM LATEST REVIEW *

5 stars 

“This content presents itself under two aspects: (1) that of “daunting awfulness and majesty,” and (2) “as something uniquely attractive and fascinating.””

I can think of nothing more pretentious than beginning a serious record review by discussing and including a Googled view of the religious philosophy of Rudolph Otto, but since the dear Captain uses that Thinker’s words to act as a title for “Hidden Gems III”, I cannot but fall in line. Thus it seems to me that this album could equally have been called “Mysterium Fascinans”: “something uniquely attractive and fascinating”, rather than “Mysterium Tremendum”. But, perhaps, he’s keeping that for “Hidden Gems IV”. It would be just as apt.

Terrifying or fascinating, awesome, awful, tremendous: pay your money, make your choice and then sit back and enjoy the ride.

Trying to get to grips with what is certainly another masterpiece, I am confronted by my lifelong dietary problem. Give me a whole tomato, a peach, even a grape and it will take immense willpower for me to start eating. It’s not that I don’t know how to, or that I don’t enjoy the experience, it’s just that I have extreme difficulty simply knowing where to start, that almost-sensual breaking into the fruit. But I have to start somewhere.

Should I begin with the music or the words, or should I see them as an entirety? I shall start with a minor minus point. The album certainly hangs together, draws the listener in and insists that I should listen. In all honesty, I could do without the Preface, or at least the vocal part of it. It is almost off-putting until you’ve listened to the whole work, at which point the monastic evocation makes a little sense, but no, I could do without it. Then again, in immediate contradiction, the lightness of “Pretending to be a person” would give a false impression, so the darkness of the Preface is needed after all, possibly, … oh, what do I know? There, that’s got that out of the way.

And so it goes. This is the product, as with everything of the Captain, of a great deal of thought and talent and attention to intense musical detail. There are layers within layers within the overall impression: each listening brings out different elements as if they hadn’t been there before.

The Captain and his collaborators have obviously thought long and hard. The thoughts shine through, whichever track/section you happen to be listening to at any time. No wonder the gestation period for “Gems 3” was so extended. Forget lockdown, forget the vicissitudes of a garden studio in all weathers – “Rain Stopped Play” – and so on: quite simply, it seems to me that a piece of work, as complex as this is musically, needed all that time and more. The sleeve notes leave us in no doubt that the album was “designed” and it shows. For example, the energy of “Getaway Drivers” is extraordinary, its overall impact rather belying the (there’s that word again) detail, and subtle detail at that, that brings it together. But its chorus line is a thing of syncopated near-genius: you can all join in! It contrasts wonderfully with the ominous simplicity of “Quieter” which follows, with all the gentle undulations of a growing storm.

And so it goes. Each track has its hook, even if we ignore the Captain’s vocal dexterity, which we do at our peril. I have always found that one of the delights of listening to the Captain’s music is the gloriously-predictable unpredictability. From the vocal patterns to the synths and drum machines to field recordings and the most unlikely patterns of notes, “Gems 3” does it all. “How Big the Small Can Be” has its own gentle musical complexity and the contrast with the leap into “Plastic Flowers …” is something quite beautiful, as is the following transition into “I don’t see you”.

And then, and then, I can bore for Britain on “listening to the words” and the Captain’s verbal dexterity. They are as central to this massive piece of work as to any other set of songs. To ignore them, or to not look at them in detail, would be to miss (probably) more than half the point of the album. But then the question arises, how deep should I go? Just how deep is the album, or not at all? The first track proper, astutely called “Pretending to be another person” tells me: “Pretending to be a person, pretending everything’s not OK, pretending to be person I think I got away with it today. … ” and the final “Hidden” track comes straight out, as if in an echo, with: “But I don’t know you I’ve never heard of you – If you’re so good I’m sure I would have stumbled across you by now …”.

Is that really what this is all about? I’m saying nothing! Perhaps other than to say that I’ll take that at whatever level I’m in the mood for at the time. And that is something I really love about the Captain’s lyrics – they float and are infinitely malleable. Mostly.

Appropriately, there are many other gems to bring the listener to the point of saying “Ooh, that’s an interesting way of putting it,” depending on your mood, of course. The porcelain doll that is “Clarabelle” declares alongside expressions of “Chastity and self-restraint” “ … what defines you defines me… “ which brings us all together nicely. So where are we going?

We are reminded by “Animals on an island“ that “I do not strive to purposely be so out of place while I pretend to be a person each and every day”. Hmm? Stand-offish, or what? What, exactly, is our relationship? This is personal, Captain.

And, in between those two, sits “Quieter”, which works like a Venus Flytrap of a song, waiting to grab a passing “This is quite sweet” in its deceptive darkness and its multiple throwaway put-downs – glorious!

My first listening drew me to the beautifully-titled “Death of the Attention Span”, an epitaph for the 2020s if ever there were one, in which the Captain evokes the void in which the world was created, Ginnungagap, in Norse and Germanic mythology – and possibly still exists. This is getting heavy, but so worth the following.

In fact, there are so many great lines strewn across the album like paint in a Jackson Pollock: everyone’s a winner, and so are we. I couldn’t resist “We are beginners all our lives and I’m still learning how big the small can be …” (“How Big the Small Can Be”, but tellingly repeated in “Paper Aeroplanes”) and the idea that we are living in a time when “wisdom was replaced by intellect” (Noises and Amusements). But sterile quotation achieves nothing unless and until you hear the whole because I am sure every listener will light upon their own hidden gems.

And so it goes. This is a work that tells of the time taken to create it. I would urge everyone who hears it, and then listens to it, to nudge gently someone they know and say “ ‘ere, you’ve got to have some of this.”

On second thoughts, no, don’t, there’s nothing more off-putting, but it really is that good.

Enjoy the ride wherever it takes you and, next time, peel me a grape.

Steve Clarke, Strange Brew

Synthesis

Reviews

Synthesis Review – Colin Bailey RnR Magazine 5/5 stars

For anyone unfamiliar with the artist’s name, he is a one off. A vaudevillian entertainer who is associated with the musical genre of steampunk, he has within that world a unique delivery, style and repertoire. His instruments of choice are the Bouzouki and Ukulele, and on a stage he is accompanied brilliantly and complementarily by ‘a mixture of gifted, musical fugitives’. But it would not matter what instrument he played: the persona, the voice and the songs are each unique and sensational. The CD (a miniature replica of a 331/3 rpm vinyl, encased in what resembles a boiled-sweet tin) is a superb package and is an introduction to the works of The Captain. Three of the tracks on Synthesis are his classic already-released singles – the quirky ‘Danger’, epic ‘Mr Many Men’ and dystopic ‘Another Planet’. He is a master at creating different moods and the five new tracks are evidence of that – as thelyrics of ‘Uniforms’ describe. ‘January’ is surely destined to be another popular, yet plaintive crowd pleaser. See him wherever and whenever you can – and buy this record!

Captain of the Lost Waves: “Circus of the Mystic” by Eileen Shapiro

by Skope • June 17, 2019

One of the more animated and fluorescent characters of the music world is beyond a doubt, Captain of the Lost Waves. Whether he actually originated on this planet remains a mystery, however his music and his magic have found a place somewhere in between modern Vaudeville, cabaret, and electronic dream pop. Wearing a top hat and traveling usually with a bouzouki, he travels from English Village to English town, like the old–time medicine men promoting miracles, musicals and curing elixirs, with an air of mystique, and talent beyond belief.

A member of an indigenous society although it’s probably not versed in magical and chemical potencies, he is skilled in magical and healing rituals that come in the form of his music. His newest release “Synthesis“, (a prelude to his new album set be released early July, the second in the trilogy: Hidden Gems, Chapter 2), is an edgy manifestation of musical bliss, dangerously bordering upon madness. 

I had an intimate dialogue with The Captain, regarding his new music and his Hidden Gem Trilogy. For those who know The Captain, you will find his new music vibrant and effervescent. For those who aren’t familiar with him yet, it’s essential that you become so, as it could very well be a life altering experience.

How does “Hidden Gems Chapter 2” compare to your immensely successful “Hidden Gems Chapter 1 ?”

So “Hidden Gems Chapter 2” is the second part of the trilogy. To summarize, the Captain starts his journey in a monochrome world because he’s been basically exiled in the dream dimension of planet earth. So, if anybody has the copy of “Hidden Gems Chapter 1”, it’s black and white and everything that emanates is given birth from the monochrome world. On the journey that I see for the Captain he starts to restore faith in aspects of life which is what I call, “The Hidden Gems”, people, places, stories, amazing facets that this planet has to show and that we very rarely see because we are all distinctly carrying our own blind spots.

The Captain manages to find these people, these stories, these places, these emotive states, these teachings, these great ancient teachings that have been lost. He finds color. It’s in the color that he starts to restore and come back to life himself escaping the monochrome world.

“Hidden Gems Chapter 2”, the essence is possibly more experimental. It houses an array of instrumentation that was evident on Chapter 1. We got synth heavy with a couple of tracks because of original tracks like “Another Planet” on the single release. It was a synth–based track that I wrote on the ukulele but I love the fusing of organic, acoustic instruments mixed with electronic where possible. So it still houses that pastoral element. There is a very organic, raw sound. There is also this more experimental youth sounding record. We captured a little bit of the elements of the bombastic within it. There were bombastic elements in Chapter 1 but there was a much more acoustic delivery. On album 2 I had a definitive idea to record it all on a 2–inch tape machine. I wanted that saturation, that color. It was really hard work because unlike the top studios where people used to often make records they are obviously calibrated regular, and we were working off one machine and occasionally we had to give up the ghost. Sometimes things have to be fixed and realigned, but what an experience. In terms of digital which was so quick as soon as you put a track down, you have to listen and wait for the tape to rewind. I love those little moments where it was quite meditative with the whole process. So I think the saturating of sound pushing the tape, the parameters of using tape, and just the additional instrumentation, including a couple of tracks which might be a little bit more synth heavy… it’s just an exploration of “Hidden Gems Chapter 2”, where there is a subtitle, “The Circus of Morality”. I wanted to navigate different moods. I never believe in repeating myself. That’s the hardest thing as an artist. There are going to be certain things that will have a nod to other things you’ve done, and that is fine. But I always want to take something a little bit further. It’s not a premeditated thing, but I will never release anything unless it is somehow different. I think that’s key.

You have a record that you’ve released in between the two albums, let’s talk about that.

That’s called “Synthesis”, and that’s exactly what I have been referring to. It was a melting and a meeting of the minds of all artistic expressions. There were two instrumentals on there, “Transient”, and “Out West”, which are again more synth and keyboard based. 

Really great tracks by the way!

Transient was kind of an idea in my head, of imagining Kraftwerk, jamming late one night with an aboriginal tribe in the middle of Red Rock. It was something in my head and that’s how I heard the music. I usually see music in pictures. Often music comes to me in a pictorial fashion. So I did that. That track started in a way, as a nod to playing the bouzouki which takes me back to Led Zeppelin, and a lot of unplugged Jimmy Page. It started that way but knowing that it was going to become an electronic infusion by the time it finishes was the idea. There was a little bit of the Wild West in it as well. So there was two instrumentals and we have the three singles which were, “Another Planet”, “Danger”, and “Mister Many Men”, and then the two new tracks from “Hidden Gems Chapter 2”, “Uniforms & January”, along with a “Uniforms” remix, which is obviously dub, very sort of dance, and then an a-cappella version. So there was the idea of a bridge, possibly a good introduction, between old Captain and the new Captain that I hoped to bring forth. Hopefully people can see the difference sonic essences that are actually going on between the records. 

You’ve decided to put this new music on vinyl as well.

I grew up with vinyl. Vinyl had been handed down to me, so I think the whole process of it is something that has never lost me. Even in the translation of the much simple age. In the digital age with everything so quick, that’s obviously a great thing on a lot of levels but I do like the idea that taking vinyl out of its case. It’s almost reverential. When I had to save up enough money, and I would save up, and save up, so when I eventually got that record, I would live with that record for possibly three or four months. It was a bit like a relationship. It becomes like an affair, like a love affair. You didn’t have the money to buy lots of things, it was just the one thing. So, I think remembering that as one of my earliest memories of a record handed down to me, was from my uncle which was “Tea for the Tillerman” by Cat Stevens. I still have that and I still adore his voice. There is a beautiful ambience to the whole record. I thought if I get the chance and because I do everything myself, no label, no agent, we did a crowd funding excessive. I thought if we raise enough money, I will make sure that “Synthesis” is on vinyl. Thankfully we raised enough money which meant I could produce the vinyl. Just seeing it and playing it has been fabulous. I think that 19 minutes on each side stays in the parameters of the best audio quality. If the album had been an hour long, it might’ve lost that quality because of the way that vinyl works. I was really focused on this and I thought it would really be great to allow people the right to buy it on vinyl. Just to discover a tiny aspect of what I fell in love with and is still there for me. I know that maybe the obtuse nature of analog recording is not perfect. But for some reason the analog domain to me symbolizes human nature and my journey more because we’re not perfect. In the digital age everything is cut so perfect. In the pop world as a rule we have now become used to a certain sound. Everything is perfection, everything is highly tuned. I work in the complete opposite sense to that. I know that when you listen to a vinyl record you can hear holes in some performances, but I think it’s those holes, and the way those records have to be mastered and compromised, even so we still love them. I mean there are beautiful recordings that people can create now, but I think something gets lost in the translation. Some of that little bit of warmth, there’s like a white noise and static. I listened to Jonny Cash, and I think there was something on that record that’s like an essence. It’s like you’re being haunted in a beautiful way. I still think vinyl does that. Just hearing the needle go shhhhhhh, and it starts to crackle. There is something absolutely beautiful about that. I think that’s one of the most beautiful noises in the world, never mind before the music starts just hearing the needle… Maybe there is a hopeless romanticism in me. It’s something that I really wanted to do. There is enough dedicated people that helped fund it, so I was happy to sort of be able to fulfill their wish which was lovely.

You have many loyal fans as proof of how well you did with the crowd funding.

I was quite amazed actually Eileen. It was the people that went the extra mile for me and the people that would do fundraising. We had a group in Gosport, the South of England, that did five or six fundraising nights. It was almost like crowdfunding created by the Waltons, “Hey JOHN Boy, I got some more apple pie for you.” I must admit that was extremely hard work for myself and Lucy, but the kindness over that six week period was almost in comparable to any other life experience I’ve ever had. I could not believe the support from people who had no money. That touched my heart. One gentleman who is on benefit and who had no money asked me if he could please send me 12 pounds. He wanted to be part of this. That kind of blew me away more than anything else. I still see that you can make music in the digital age, and nobody needs to own it. You can enjoy music without having to own anything.

Hidden Gems Chapter 2 – Circus Of Morality

Reviews

This artist is a one off – but maybe consider as a prototype for his idiosyncrasy Zappa, Beefheart or The Sensational Alex harvey band. The unique showman follows up Hidden gems Chapter 1 and the singles compilation Sythesis with this long awaited release ‘featuring the finest of vocalists, musicians and choirs’.

It is always a case of needing to expect the unexpected with the Captain. To give a flavour of the musical variety in this further collection of delights – opening track ‘Isles Of Sopholore’ features a beautiful melody with lyrics in an unknown language and accompanied by Morse code messages, leading into a circus ringmaster’s announcement. ‘Uniforms’ – a reflection on standing out yet fitting in, is a wall-of-sound tour de force, replete with trombone and theramin.The accordion of the Captain’s onstage accompanist Murray Grainger, is showcased on the evocative ‘Berlin Between The Wars’. This is immediately followed by the banjo and percussion driven ‘Drifting’ a sonf returning to the theme of identity and persona ( ‘ I was the “Lesser Spotted Drifting Bird”/ Way back when in school’). It’s a wonderful album which sublimely illuminates the human condition and at the same time treats us to a cornucopia of musical treasures. COLIN BAILEY

The hedonistic aroma of flamboyance and the fragrance of honest sawdust fills the surrounding air as you sit and reflect upon the grand treasure chest that has been opened with an enjoyable sweep of the arm and a gesture that pronounces with fervour that the parade continues, that in this second chapter of Hidden Gems, the Circus of Morality is one that truly lives up to its predecessor and deserves the big top moment to which it has been created for.

Dare to believe that the high wire in which the intrepid Captain Of The Lost Waves strides upon as each track plays out to the audience will hold, for in each exhaled excited breath, in each recognition of gasp and fortunes braved, the wire doesn’t just stay beneath the feet of this intrepid musical explorer, it turns and flexes like a muscle intent on showing the dexterity of the one who set their sights on creating magic.

It is in the return of Captain Of The Lost Waves that all is seen and felt to be serene, not plain sailing, such a notion would mean that the album has captured no regard for the imagination and drive that has been focused upon, instead it is an album that is full sail, all oars out and the sea in which it traverses one in which carries with it on board the full company of extravaganza and performance.

It is too the credit of all involved on the album that the music is exceptional, that the lyrics drive home the appearance of modern vaudeville, and that heady aroma is more than just enticing, it is the epitome of absolute welcome, the sign above the tent in which the music is playing is ablaze with colour and recognition of the star in which this particular captain has set his sights upon.

Across songs and decorated cinematic inserts such as Berlin Between The Wars, the excellent January, Mr Hollywood, Earworm and Pantomime, Circus of Morality reveals itself, each act introduced as though, and rightly, they are the star of the show. In this effect of emphasising and underlining the importance to the whole, the song becomes the ring master, the crowd and the band in a way that can only be called dramatic and special.

Hidden Gems-Chapter 2: Circus of Morality is not only an album which flies its flag prominently, it is one that stresses the importance of creativity, a ship that sails under a captain who understand this is one whose honour must be saluted.

by IAN D HALL

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Posted
on May 14, 2019 by Edmund Barker, The
Indie Music Critic in Artist
/ Musician

While listening to Hidden Gems – Chapter 2 – Circus of Morality,
the new release by Yorkshire-based entertainer and modern-day
troubadour Captain of the Lost Waves, I was pleasantly reminded of
Thomas Dolby. The maverick behind “She Blinded Me With Science”
became known for an aesthetic style somewhere between David Bowie and
Jules Verne, and often referenced technologies and ways of life from
decades past. His debut album The Golden Age of Wireless is basically
a love letter to the era when the radio, the airplane, and the
submarine were all new and exotic, making Dolby an early adopter of
steampunk in the ‘80s (granted, technology from around the ‘20s
is now recognized as more diesel punk than steampunk, but if the very
1940s-flavored fantasy film Brazil can be cited as an influence on
steampunk, so can Dolby.). Captain of the Lost Waves, with his dapper
top hat and lyrics of nautical travel, comes off like an adventurer
from some Edwardian-era novel—and showmanship is the name of his
game. Just as comfortable with the bouzouki as he is with the synth,
the Captain is a multi-talented force of nature.

In a wonderful bit of mood-setting, the opening track “Isles of
Sopholore” starts with the sound of telegraph beeps, conjuring
images of naval adventures. “Folksy” is one of the first words
one thinks of when listening to Hidden Gems – Part 2, as evocative
strings, accordions, and harmonies are employed to give the wistful
feel of a sea shanty. But the Captain doesn’t remain constrained by
just one genre or aesthetic, as the second track “Circus of
Morality” is built around a piano melody that’s almost jazz-like.
The album, remaining unpredictable, then works in an electronic beat
for more of a trip hop sound during “Uniform,” with guttural
lyrics of anger at the world reminiscent of ‘90s Depeche Mode. A
somber trumpet kicks in during a beautiful instrumental bridge,
adding to an impressive number of genre shifts in the first three
tunes of the record. “Uniform” is a song about blazing your own
trail and defying convention, a common theme of the album (and a
creed the Captain lives by, as his circus-like show travels the U.K.
like the carnivals of yore). While theatrical stage shows are a big
part of this artist’s personality, the album does a successful job
of emulating the feel of something live and loose—the tune “Mr
Hollywood” has the soft feel of cocktail jazz in a club.

Like with The Dresden Dolls, much of the Captain’s attitude is based in
the humor and swagger of retro cabaret theater, as felt in the album
highlight “Pantomime.” With its upbeat lyrics about the inanities
of life, “Pantomime” is joyful even when it gets moody, and a
microcosm of the album as a whole. I await the Captain’s further
adventures with bated breath.

5/5
Stars

Album Review: Captain of the Lost Waves “Hidden Gems: Chapter 2” by Jordan Cain

 The Mob

 Music, New York

If your searching for a new persuasion of music, something vibrant and unique, then it’s time to discover “Captain of the Lost Waves.” His songs are full of imagination, from his lyrics to his fashion design. Traveling extensively throughout the cities and country villages of England, wearing a top hat, long coat, and seasoned mustache, he brings with him strange and quirky instruments and a flair for the mystic. Although his songs are a fusion of modern vaudeville, folk, light dream pop and cabaret, he has been admired by the Steampunk Community. A throw-back from another time and place, his music is refreshing and sometimes magical.

After great success with his first album, “Hidden Gems Chapter 1”, he is about to release his highly anticipated follow-up, ‘Hidden Gems Chapter 2’, the second of a Trilogy. In between the two albums he released “Synthesis”, an EP serving as a prelude to the new album and a reminder of the first one. He has also released some inspiring videos a long the way showcasing his talent and wizardry.

The song “January”, simple subject as it may seem shows us poetry exampling, “May I introduce myself, I’m the month that they say they most fear. They call me January, I’m the Monday it seems of the year.” Watching him sing the song, you actually believe he is most definitely January. The song “Uniforms” is a socially conscious songs with a huge message, if you really listen. “Another Planet” is a sultry nu-vaudevillian type song with interesting tones, and an out of this world sonic flair. “Mr. Many Men” is a feel good autobiography in some way, with a very original video accompanying it. “Danger” inundated with instruments I can’t even pronounce. It absolutely keeps you breathing.

He has gained many fans and grown many alliances through his travels. He has confidence and humility and presents that within his songs.

The Captain of the Lost Waves is himself a Hidden Gem. There is no other like him, no one that even comes close. He is a breath of fresh air, a dazzling display of talent bordering upon clarity and insanity, but truly entertaining nevertheless. The Captain is a relentless visionary, a prophetic character, a fairy-tale, a musical anomaly, a phenomenon, and an explorer in the world of music.

4/5 Stars

Hidden Gems Chapter 1

Reviews

“Captain!!

Wow! That is all.

Honestly in the shows I have attended I have never witnessed anything quite like it”

Liverpool Sofar Sounds – Photograph by Olga Kozicka

Captain of the Lost Waves – Hidden Gems Chapter 1  REVIEW (pre release album Ltd Edition available from 19th Nov)

“Are we in kansas?”
“No.”

For a Pasolini on a ukulele an album is far too small a format. For the captain- a man with Busby Berkley scale ideas this collection of music seems more of an entire evening than an album. Its more of a fantastic voyage around imaginary volcanic islands than a normal, run of the mill EP.
Its musical peyote or whatever Lewis Carol was on. Hallucinatory audio theatre.

Choruses of drunken sailors, East German mandolin worriers, Bavarian bouzouki fondlers and well chaperoned sheep- they’re all here. Music buffs and scholars of the Bauhaus will also no doubt enjoy a rare use of snoring at a certain interval in the voyage/evening.

The songs are built upon sophisticated arrangements that would collapse under their own weight if it wasn’t for the technically flawless almost invisible production and delicious musicianship that runs throughout.
I think its VERY English but an Hawaiian might insist it has a definite touch of the palm tree/pineapple about it and claim it for themselves!

The quality of the songsmithing and a certain ‘kindness’- a tender sensitivity means the potential audience demographic is Beatle-esque.
Post modern folk music free to borrow from any stringed, sail or wind powered instrument ends up demonstrating the links and similarities between the different branches of international ‘traditional’ music.
Impish Hungarian tunes sashay around the room on the arms of Irish fiddle melodies whilst Otto Dix’s piano player adds a soupy, mockingly jovial circus rhythm which is far too melancholy to actually dance to but we dance nonetheless. Its hard not to sway when the ground is moving.

I cant single out a favourite track anymore than I could chose between the ghosts of past faithful sheepdogs. Its impossible. I’ve hummed all their choruses at various points during the last week – in showers, whilst watching a cauliflower cheese pirouette in a microwave and on the M1. I’m humming now whilst I write.

What a world we live in in which there are people who can do things like this?
I am extremely fortunate to have heard this music before its official public release. You know that feeling when you’ve managed to buy someone you love the most amazing present but you have to wait till their birthday? And you smile because you know what joy is instore for them? You know whats coming? And they don’t? That’s how I feel.
This record/evening is special and contains melodies that will get under your skin and haunt you like a weathered tattoo of your favourite dead sheepdog’s name.

B. Longpencil 2016, Gigwise

And so he arrived, the enigmatic Captain, armed just with a wireless headset mic and a Bouzouki/Ukulele under his arm. What was to follow was a promenade performance, the likes of which I can find no equal or comparison. To experience a COTLW performance is to find yourself in Alice’s pocket. A glorious journey through a wonderland of mischief, sonic majesty and fearless exploration. Captivating the audience in the most unique of fashions, the nearest I can get to a description is cross between a minstrel and a bard. His skills are so complex and rare yet ultimately universal., hence they are impossible to describe in the limited expression of language. Huge charisma and had the audience of around 250 people in the palm of his hand, this performance was undoubtedly the highlight of the festival for me and many more!

ASYLUM FESTIVAL, LINCOLN – audience reaction reviews 2016

What a superb night of quality songwriting and performances.

Wow I have honestly just been blown away by Captain of the Lost Waves
What an incredibly unique act he has developed, such an important key part of this experience. The set tonight transported me to another world, a world of vaudeville, variety and steampunk. Joy, reflection and hilarity; sing a long melodies, and soaring falsettos with allusive and sometimes whimsical messages.

He is a master at genuinely involving the audience and seamlessly moved between us all, playing his bouzouki or ukulele (exceptionally) and occasionally stopping mid-song to reflect and say something tangential and hilarious or thought-provoking or both. His image makes me think of steampunk – top hat and tails, with combat boots and a purple ribbon on his arm and red kerchief around his neck.. The songwriting is awe-inspiring – his melodies grab you instantly and we all sing along effortlessly. The chord changes point to a deeper darker underbelly but he skirts away from darkness deftly and beautifully.

I am inspired and very very impressed. Some performers make you feel uplifted and energised when you see them and have that special gift. I feel like I have witnessed something very special tonight. Thank you David Robertson-Brown for another spectacular Acoustic North Evening at Glyde House, with Captain of the Lost Waves – Tues 28th June
Donna Marie Bottomley Glyde House Reviewer

****“I don’t think I’m made of that stuff,” laments the singer-songwriter styled only as the Captain. The doubt’s right there, in the lyrics of one of his beautifully heartfelt songs – yet if “that stuff” is talent, then the man we see in front of us clearly exudes it from every pore.  Let’s be clear about one thing first: The Captain really can sing. I don’t just mean he can sing in Fringe terms – I mean he has a voice you might hear on a West End stage, or here in Edinburgh at a recital in the Usher Hall. **** RICHARD STAMP, FRINGE GURU (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)

***** ‘Now this was a curio of time-travel theater. His Good Ship has landed at Space Triplex for a short run and yesterday I was called to witness his melody, muse and weirdness. Fifty minutes of nautical mysticism brought to life with a genuine apparition of a Spirit Galleon’ ***** MARK ‘DIVINE’ CALVERT, MUMBLE CIRQUE (Edinburgh Fringe Festival ). 

***** ‘The Captain knows how to keep an audience engaged. Not only through his songs (one of the best singers I`ve seen); the audience participation who gets to be part of the show and the chorus (I was lucky enough to get a kazoo); his stories from a rather heavy book from which he kept tearing pages for our amusement’.

‘Favourite show in the Fringe this year. Fun songs for people of any age and all the family that will make you smile. A great whimsical character and an hour isn’t long enough!  I recommend it to everyone!’

‘An incredibly funny and charismatic talented man ‘

‘What splendid deliverance of an outstanding performance! 5* Become immersed in the captains adventures through time and space, through heart felt storytelling and deep and meaningful songs, that will have you singing and tapping along in minutes, in this unique and unusual show ‘

‘ No fanfare, no announcement, no “make some noise” for the Captain. He’s there waiting in the dark with us and he calmly steps forward when his audience is settled. He gives us a brief introduction about his cosmic journey and begins the first of 7 beautifully crafted songs, all of which you are encouraged to sing along with. It’s ok, you will feel compelled and unabashed.His stage persona suggests we accept him and his stories at face value. Tales of musical collaborations with Edith Piaf and Captain Rickard are mesmerising. As the audience accepts his word we believe his tales from outer space about meetings with names we have never heard’ ***** EDFRINGE.COM

“A night of such unique, bewitching & bemusing artistry from he that I would dare deem incomparable

The Captain is not just the finest of singers & musicians ( a voice of such operatic sonorous beauty & effortless volume,coupled with a diction which equates & deviates as imagining Buckley, Sinatra, Ferry & Bush in a rotating barbershop quartet.

That it is both frighteningly life affirming & emotively solar plexus punching in a raw unamplified state,has one questioning if their ears are believing what is being heard?

Capable of veering between heartfelt & vaudevillian with a comedic timing only afforded to a chosen few.

Possessing a gift for creating songs of such nuance,depth, complexity & melody,though shot through with the most translucent simplicity & integrity which instantly arrest your heart & mind.
He is poet, comedian & storyteller all in equal measure. To see it is to believe it.
To not see it is to try only imagine it” The Printers Playhouse, Eastbourne – audience reviews and reactions

Mrs Yarringtons is overjoyed with pleasure to announce the return of The Captain. For those who have seen him at Mrs Y’s or last years The Big Green Cardigan he needs no introduction. For those who haven’t  how to describe it? as one reviewer said, ‘Watching a ‘Captain Of The Lost Waves’ performance is like trying to describe the colour number nine’ and I think that says it all. Deliciously bonkers, eccentric and impossible to categorize.Through operatic scales to eerie chorale voices, hypnotic rhythm’s to confessional and emotive lyrics and haunting melodies we ultimately come to the conclusion that the Captain is a man not content to sit still as he travels musically, physically and mentally, ultimately avoiding destination drudgery. Were he not one of the great contemporary lyricists he would no doubt be hailed as one of the great modern poets or thinkers of our time.

This really is one not to miss. 

 ‘From the greatest show on Earth some of the greatest stories never told…..’MRS YARRINGTONS MUSIC CLUB, BATTLE/THE BIG GREEN CARDIGAN FESTIVAL, SUSSEX

Simply the most unique and inclusive of performers. To witness his craft, particularly in a live setting, where each new expression for each new audience seems to be executed right there on the spot, in a truly intuitive sense. An exemplary vocalist and musician, storyteller, poet, philosopher and clown, his is a show which is so bewitching and bemusing it seems the least one can do is to describe it as an accepted form of alchemy. FAT TUESDAY MARDI GRAS FESTIVAL, HASTINGS

One of the greatest songwriters this country has ever produced. JIMMY RICE AUTHOR 

Watching a ‘Captain Of The Lost Waves’ performance is like trying to describe the colour number nine…

Impossible! 

A delectable array of bewitching delights that entranced, mesmerized, transfixed, transported and hypnotized both the submissive and hard to please paying customer?

So the more I thought as I took in the majesty of its spellbinding ability to leave me wanting more?… more?… more?…

More? After such a thoroughly engaging interaction between performer and audience?

More? After nearly two hours of visceral unleashed creativity?

Only one word replayed in my mind’s eye, over and over as I could take nor add nothing more of myself to this feast that the ears and the eyes did willingly gorge upon?

‘Resplendent’ ….that is all I needed do and out from the tissue thin pages of an old Oxford Dictionary ….there it was

‘Splendid, Magnificent, Dazzling, Glittering, Glowing, Radiant, Gorgeous, Transcendent, Awe – Inspiring, Breath-taking….’

My work is done here?

ASA YOELSON

The Circus is coming to town….and boy oh boy oh boy what a Circus it is!

‘As big as your imagination….,’Roll up, roll up, ladies and gentlemen’..

Come forth and witness Brigands, Heart-warming Clowns, Talking Primates, the Happy Undead, Crooked Gangsters (are there any others?) Interstellar love affairs and ethereal mystical masters among a plethora of otherworldly beings, who  find  themselves channelled via the Captain, as he recites his extraordinary stories from down through the ages….

“Your Heart rate will accelerate, the line between fantasy and reality will grow ever increasingly blurred, you will resonate with a sense of something tangibly familiar, yet equally ‘Alien’…a Tour De Force of captivating theatre, giving birth to what can only be described as a musical box ‘Frankenstein’, awash, and bloated with chaos, beauty, mayhem, poise, madness, intent, disarray, profundity, humour, candidness, and a gentle courageous fragility”.

Come, listen, watch, drink it in…The Captain’s brew is a heady one, shot through with a disbelief that he and he alone, makes somehow believable, coupled with a sense of occasion that is thoroughly and wickedly depraved in its affluent, content- rich execution which concludes in a fitting finale that remains intact, as one basks in the afterglow of not just a ‘feel good but feel great’ experience, long, long, long after it’s all been played out…

LASZIO LOWENSTEIN

The Captain makes music as Vincent Van Gogh painted…the hand, the eye and the ear merely tools of the soul, a hidden gem, that like his subjects should remain hidden no longer and yet I have the sneaking suspicion the Captain likes to be off the radar.

EHRICH WEISS

‘Deliciously bonkers, eccentric and impossible to categorize’

If things were ‘as they might be’ and ‘not as they were’ then this particular brand of what  could only be  ‘coined’ as an entrancing, spontaneous combustion of artistically schizophrenic expression, would, I believe, find favour with many of the masses, who in turn, would spew out both a healthy dose of grudging respect and even admiration within the ranks.

I meanwhile, along with a select few others am more than happy to keep ‘The Captain’ our dirty little secret…

Something about a ‘hidden gem?’
He, of all people, knows a thing or two about that? 

FLORENCE LA BADIE

Through operatic scales to eerie chorale voices, hypnotic rhythm’s to confessional and emotive lyrics and haunting melodies we ultimately come to the conclusion that the Captain is a man not content to sit still as he travels musically, physically and mentally, ultimately avoiding destination drudgery. Were he not one of the great contemporary lyricists he would no doubt be hailed as one of the great modern poets or thinkers of our time.

ARTHUR STANLEY JEFFERSON

Impossible to compare and something very rare indeed, following his journey it vindicates him as the Shakespeare of songwriters, indeed it had been noted that the Captain was not just the writer of songs but mini operas. His individual and practically note perfect delivery echoes the command that marked the work of Jeff Buckley.

HARRY CHAMPION

The affect the Captains music has on me is haunting, beguiling and uplifting, as ever he uses his unique sonorous voice as both a confessional and an instrument, soaring into an undulating vibrato above the ambient magical soundtrack, a rare and extraordinary artist of the highest order.

FREDERICK AUSTERLITZ

The Captains masterpiece is a living breathing nervous system of a record, it will haunt and mesmerise the listener long after it’s all over.

DORIS MARY ANN KAPPELHOFF

Cram packed with profundity, pathos and an incredible gift for timeless melodies, whilst soaring over the mix that voice! It alternates between brooding percussive rhythmic diction and a majestic unique tremolo of what can only be described as that of an ethereal banshee or dare I say it a human Theremin.

PAUL CINQUEVALLI

A magnificent writer with a keen eye and poetic tongue (I suspect he’s an admirer of T.S.Eliot) he possesses a unique vocal delivery that every now and again ascends into a shimmering falsetto, perhaps the first true original of this millennium?

LUCILLE FAY LESUEUR

The Captain plies his trade in writing music so mesmerizingly beautiful and so richly steeped in genuine emotion and yet how he manages to sound uplifting and positive is nothing short of miraculous.

CHARLES K HARRIS

A feeling of swimming through a Monet landscape, but all of the people have Picasso faces, a miraculous song and dance man working at the height of his powers, alchemy indeed. His particular brand of art is infused with enough depth to make it come across as heavy as a brick, though is still light and dizzyingly beautiful, artists of the Captains ilk don’t come along very often, it’s time to cherish him.

ISSUR DANIELOVITCH DEMSKY

“And so, before I endear to you, something of note…. I do indeed confess that I have given up my wayward, salacious lusting for all that was evidently a cheap, grandiose and pompous exercise in the lazy practice of accepting this, our prevalent ‘junk food culture?’…

The transparent, skinny apparitions of lazy creation, the ‘quick fix’, devoid of truly arresting beauty, or a simple profound depth, and whose pseudo masquerading as ‘art’ has become frankly exhausting…

No more second guessing those who are indecisive, I trade only in goods of a superlative value now…I seek out the purveyors of creation that goes far, far beyond the comprehension of the always competitive, comparison breeding grounds of  ‘the brittle ego’ .

‘The art is always greater than the artist darling’?

The enormous, non-local intelligence, resident within those who are the architects of the most inspired music, film, literature and dance is why I arrived here in the first place…

Make of my musings what you will? 

For that’s why I love the Captain…

His exquisite marriage of drama and music gives birth to an expression of something startlingly original, childlike, hypnotic, gentle, left field, persuasive, humorous, engaging , deviant , inclusive, wistful, nostalgic, generous and yet still eminently anarchic, rebellious and forward thinking….

He’s like Winnie the Pooh…
We may not have realised just how relevant he is……yet?

A connoisseur’s obscurity of that I have no doubt.

MARGARITA CANSINO

Compelling and contrasting and possessing a cumulative power that will not be denied he is a performer and writer of a singular intensity and originality. His live performances are typified by a passion and intensity rarely heard or felt these days.

MORNY CASH

The Captains genius is that he makes you care when you don’t and not care when you do, listen to his stories, they may compel you to do something just as magnificent and just as powerful.  

NATALIA NIKOLAEVNA ZAKHARENKO

His offerings couldn’t be more universal if they were written by Jesus himself. A sheer force of nature.              

FLORRIE FORDE

The Captain often appears in those rare live performances as a one man wonder, his own man, oddball perhaps, unique in the way that distinguishes original artists from the copyists, unique like Jake Thackeray, Wild Man Fischer, John Martyn, Kate Bush, Durutti Column, Laurie Anderson, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Bobby McFerrin, The Cocteau Twins, Jane Siberry or Sa Dingding and nothing like any of them! They are all artists channelling themselves rather than just an idea of themselves. Rather than his influences, the only thing the Captain wears on his sleeve like all the above, is the mark of a creativity let loose from the strait-jacket of categorization. 

ARCHIBOLD ALEXANDER LEACH

A writer of the most memorable tunes and I put his graphic lyrical prowess on a par with Dylan, but even above the Captains considerable skill as an instrumentalist the key sound element is his voice. When he sings his voice flutters sweetly into the upper registers like a magic flute, his lips quivering operatically, he sings with nuance and intelligence, impeccable phrasing and emotional drama. Comparisons can be banded about, none quite apposite but imagine Peter Hammill mixed with a touch of Enya. You can sense his star power, the Captains rightful place would be on ‘Later’, one of the few music programmes left where he would fit right in with the spiky, the quirky, the awesome, the original, the classy, the off the wall, the legendary and the heartfelt from all corners of the musical world, regardless of trends and the jack booted stamp of celebrity. Perhaps the place where oneself merges with the idea of oneself is where true musical importance can be achieved.

DAN LENO

“And so, before I endear to you, something of note…. I do indeed confess that I have given up my wayward, salacious lusting for all that was evidently a cheap, grandiose and pompous exercise in the lazy practice of accepting this, our prevalent ‘junk food culture?’…

The transparent, skinny apparitions of lazy creation, the ‘quick fix’, devoid of truly arresting beauty, or a simple profound depth, and whose pseudo masquerading as ‘art’ has become frankly exhausting…

No more second guessing those who are indecisive, I trade only in goods of a superlative value now…I seek out the purveyors of creation that goes far, far beyond the comprehension of the always competitive, comparison breeding grounds of  ‘the brittle ego’ .

‘The art is always greater than the artist darling’?

The enormous, non-local intelligence, resident within those who are the architects of the most inspired music, film, literature and dance is why I arrived here in the first place…

Bawdy, ballsy, big hearted and as ‘wide open’ & inclusive as one can imagine when it comes to the creative process?  Nothing is ever off limits? No line ever drawn that he is not willing to cross? There is something unashamedly uncompromising in the way Mr Captain of the Lost Waves goes about his business….

…it might be in the genes kid?

RUTH ELIZABETH DAVIS

The much awaited review copy from the Captain of the Lost Waves has landed on the desk of Steampunk Journal

Ever since the Captain strode onto the stage at Whitby Steampunk Weekend, I’ve been avidly following his moves. Waiting fervently for a copy of his album to review for the Journal. It’s finally arrived and I’ve spent the last two weeks letting the Captain’s smooth operatic voice slide into my ears.

First inspection

The album cover is a monochrome artist’s paradise of nautical and mystical themed art work. The Captain’s unmistakable profile silhouetted holds centre-stage. Interestingly the words “Chapter I” appear in the bottom right corner which suggests maybe an extension of the album or maybe a follow-up in the same styles and subject matter.

The silhouette on the front cover suggests a mysterious character and that’s quite true to form. All I know about him is that he’s from “the Wild Wild West of Yorkshire” as he so amusingly puts it. But he remains interestingly elusive that we don’t even know what town he’s from. With this ambiguous approach to his location, one could be forgiven for thinking he’s somewhat aloof. However his website and any online interactions suggest an amiable, compassionate and warm personality. Seemingly wise beyond his years, even the Captain’s off the cuff blog posts are enough to break out the Thesaurus. This approach to articulating such an obviously busy mind has transferred into the lyrics of Hidden Gems. But it’s not just the lyrics that are well thought out. You see anyone could arguably formulate a melody and backing track to go with some lyrics. But when you arrange a track to actually fit the theme of the song, that’s next level stuff.

Lyrical content

That’s what the Captain has done with the opening track Grand National. The song is about life in general with observations about how we all run very different lives. But the rhythm of the song moves like the clip-clop of a horse. Rocking back and forth with the motion of a saddle. There are plenty of references to horse racing, and in particular the Grand National. Mentions such as the notorious Becher’s (Becher’s Brook fence) and the Chair as well as well-known horses such as Devon Loch. The latter being the horse in the 1956 Grand National. It was the clear winner until for some unknown reason it jumped into the air falling on its stomach. With 40 yards to go. That led to the second place horse winning.

While these notable mentions easily couple with other references such as Tipperary Tim (the 100-1 horse that won the 1928 Grand National when only one other horse managed to finish), ending up lame, neck and neck and photo finish provide a song laden with horse racing lingo, it’s done with a finesse not usually seen by other talented song writers. They tend to fail in the execution of this kind of thing, such as Lady Gaga’s Pokerface where the references to poker are stretched and garish.

Style & thoughts

The nine track album covers many different facets of life. With the nu-vaudeville style folk music, I can’t help but think that the Captain pondered these very topics on a warm September evening while moored in the fenlands, sitting atop his narrowboat smoking a pipe and watching the locals getting thrown out of the pub. These are the types of images conjured up in your mind as you listen to each thoughtful song after the other. Essentially, the Captain comes from a pre-industrialised Britain to tell us his stories. From people racing through life (Grand National) to the loss of critical thinking (Danger), to just simply wanting to remain in bed for the day and laze around (Happy in Bed). the Captain covers many aspects of life and echoes much of our own thoughts and observations.

Music quality

The actual music is just as well thought out and been given the same attention to detail as the lyrics, album cover, artwork for the inlay, website and clearly every other part of the Captain’s persona. The folksy styles are similar in many respects to the earlier albums of Steam Powered Giraffe. But the album is unmistakably British in its content. While the actual topics can mean something to anyone in the world, the lack of the American twangy guitar and addition of accordion and flute bring it back home. Adding the Captain’s impressive voice to the music delivers a set of songs that will invoke a multitude of emotions. That includes humour as well. The album isn’t exactly dripping in comedy, but one of my favourite lines from the album comes from Mr Many Men where he quotes Chico Marx’s line “I wasn’t kissing her, I was whispering in her lips.”

With an average song running time of around the 5min 30sec mark, Mr Many Men sticks out like a sore thumb. At 28min 36sec long I wondered what the Captain could have to talk about for so long. However after the usual run time, the track keeps playing. After nearly ten minutes of silence we discover the “hidden gems”. Here are a collection of remixes including a gorgeous little Hawaiian number. These are arguably the hidden gems that the album alludes to. There’s also a copy of the Edith Piaf song that the Captain recently touted which features a video made by his son.

Hidden Gems album review conclusion

What to say about Hidden Gems that hasn’t already been said in this review? The Captain and his crew of brigands have taken the British steampunk scene by storm. The fact that even as part of a band, he can show up at an event alone and perform to hundreds of attendees as though he’s just walked into his living room speaks volumes. Clearly at ease with himself, his musical talent and using his voice to its full effect, the Captain is a gem himself. Hidden Gems can take you on a roller coaster of emotions from the lazy Happy in Bed, the melancholy of This is a Song, to the uplifting anthem of Mr Many Men that seemingly closes the album. That is until you discover the literally hidden gems ten minutes later.

Anyone who has seen the Captain perform will be fully aware of his talent. It has been passed onto the album perfectly. They’ll also be aware of his tendency to stop singing mid song, branch off like a Ronnie Corbett story and start having a chat with the audience. This usually extends a 5min 30sec song to around the eight or nine minute mark. Every track is faultless with lyrics that are twisted up in metaphor to a degree I’ve not seen since the early Stereophonics days. I can’t help but feel that there’s something bigger brewing.

Given the way the Captain conducts himself – the mythology of the character being some kind of godlike time traveller who passes on his stories of the world in song – I think there’s a lot more to him and this album that we’ve been let in on. Certainly at this moment anyway. I think the second album will give us more clues to a riddle we don’t yet fully understand. And hopefully some answers we don’t yet know the questions to.

I’m certainly looking forward to what the Captain has to offer over the coming years. In the meantime, this is a stellar album.

Live Review – Captain Of The Lost Waves
Wharf Chambers, Leeds
25 May 2017

A sublime and mesmerising example of piracy at its very best, the Captain of the Lost Waves magically stole the hearts of his audience in the most soulful and effervescent way possible. Only it wasn’t at sea, but at Wharf Chambers in Leeds, where he performed. Louder Than War’s Eileen Shapiro review. 

With an unhinged edginess bordering on madness and melancholy, the Captain tantalized the congregation with story, song, sensibility and humor unique only to him. Complete with top hat and captain’s fashion, he proceeded to fill the room with life and sparkle, conjuring up a bit of wizardry and enchantment as he showcased each song from both stage and audience arena. Dancing about the venue, standing cheek to cheek, on top of chairs, and laps, he encouraged the crowd to join in, and they were all very happy to do so, hoping each melody would never end.  Together they filled the auditorium with happiness and harmony.

With the help of an electric mandolin and ukulele, and who knows what else,the Captain performed tracks off his new album, The Adventures Of Captain Of The Lost Waves Hidden Gems: Chapter 1, all prefaced with a story overture. His voice is melodically powerful, and his words spellbinding and meaningful, reaching the decadence of creativity. I was completely intoxicated by his performance without the aid of even a wine. The Captain was born to be an entertainer, or perhaps even a prophet.

Although accompanied to the event by his beautiful wife Lucy, and his vivaciously brilliant son Harry, the Captain never steps out of character, which leads me to believe that the Captain isn’t a character at all, but instead one of those special beings who touch our lives leaving an  unforgettable impact that remains intact forever.

Needless to say, it would be to your great advantage to visit the Captain’s website, stalk him on Facebook, watch out for his tweets, or do anything that is possible to catch him live, as it is a life altering experience.

To find the Captain:
www.captainofthelostwaves.com
www.facebook.com/captainofthelostwaves

All words by Eileen Shapiro. More of Eileen’s writing can be found in her author’s archive.

Captain of the Lost Waves has a style unlike any other indie musician I have ever reviewed. The band’s distinct musical stylings possess an interesting combination of antique and modern sounds

They are based in Yorkshire, United Kingdom and are here to put a dent in the indie music industry. Besides Captain of the Lost Waves himself, the band consists of three other members: Murray Grainger, Tony Taffinder, and Dave Bowie Jr.

They recently released a new album titled Hidden Gems – Chapter 1 on March 8th. The musical genres of this album involve rock, progressive, experimental, and nu vaudeville.

The last genre mentioned is one I was not familiar with upon first learning of the band.

After doing some research, I learned this genre is based on 20th century performance entertainment consisting of specialty acts, such as burlesque comedy as well as songs and dancing. Furthermore, these acts were based in the United States and Canada.

What comes to my mind when factoring this information in are circus acts and freak shows of that time; or better yet the sad-face clowns with their satirical dispositions. Interesting, right?

Behind the scenes

Getting back to their album, it includes nine colorful, quirky tracks that shake up the imagination. As for the vocals, #The Captain and Taffinder are in charge of this area. The Captain sings lead vocals, while Taffinder does backup vocals, at least to my understanding. And they have some impressive pipes.

The Captain’s singing is powerful, harmonious, clear, and a bit playful. He sings as though he is performing on Broadway. It’s as if he is singing before a large audience, full of theatrical wonder.

In between the singing, there are moments of dialogue, which help add variety to the music.

As for the instrumentals, each member contributes in this area. For example, you can hear the sounds of bouzouki, ukulele, accordion, mandolin, banjo, guitar, bowed bass, and more. Together, they produce folksy, rhythmic sounds that pair well with the singing.

Since each song is very different from the others, the variety of instruments help bring out the unique essence of each track. Certain songs have particular sounds other songs lack, presenting artistry that is true to the nature of vaudeville.

As for the lyrics, they are imaginative, quirky, and sort of hard to nail down the exact meaning of. Collectively, the lyrics are all over the place, picking at peculiar aspects of life it seems. And they are the most profound thing about the band’s music.

The lyrical makeup of each song is like a separate nu vaudeville act, expressing the amusement and melancholy of human nature.

It’s clear the band is trying to take listeners to another world, while still managing to be down-to-earth.

Overall, I give this album a 9 out of 10 rating. My favorite song is “Summer” thanks to its mesmerizing vocals and acoustic melodies. 

Neletha Skelton, Blasting  News

Innovation is, thankfully, the key to great success in the new age world of roots music. This innovation, of course, crops up in different forms, though we have seen it in the way that Sturgill Simpson wrapped his way around country with a soulfully alternative twist. We’ve seen it when Mumford & Sons first came onto the scene with their astoundingly arena-filling folk-rock thrills, and we’ve seen it in the genre-bending antics of modern quote-on-quote Americana bands like The Avett Brothers or The Accidentals. One thing is for certain though, and that is for when any of these artists have garnered any sort of repute, it has been for a contribution that could not only be seen as compelling in our glorious world of folk music, friends—but for a contribution truly unique.

Decidedly described as “Nu Vaudeville” and like something straight out of a bardly renaissance, our Captain of the Lost Waves seems to fit the bill rather handily. By handily, we meet rowdily, staunchly, and just like a soul-imbued romantic depiction of an actual seafaring captain. The aforementioned Simpson’s Sea Stories have nothing on just how fully immersed the Captain brings listeners into his swashbuckling world. He aims to bring laughs and true enticement to his audience, acting more like an aurally-dispersed masterclass play than any sort of standard musical release.

In that lies the foremost idea behind the Captain’s brilliance, but would you believe us if we said that it was also truly compelling for a listen unto itself? Somewhere out there in the world, his Hidden Gems are becoming not-so-hidden and it just makes sense for it to in some of the same ways that the soundtrack to Hamilton became such a sensation. This is pure musical innovation that tells a story, and it does so with the actual know-how and finesse of true, blue musicians. With each Celtic swing or romantic declaration, one can just tell just how much musical output was shoehorned into this work to make it something truly compelling and truly innovative.

All in all, this is one that you’re going to have to hear to really believe for yourselves. But, trust us—it’s good.

Words by: Jonathan Frahm, For Folk’s Sake

Like Ziggy Stardust or Sgt. Pepper, Captain of the Lost Waves belongs to that very singularly English tradition of musicians loosely masking their identities with alter egos. What separates the Captain, however, is that his real name, for now, remains undisclosed, and his new album Hidden Gems – Chapter 1 offers little in the way of clues. Although there exists definable cornerstones—the prog rock of Jethro Tull, the pop experimentalism of *Brian Wilson*—the band thrives more in that vague no man’s land, that abstract Venn diagram where goth, cabaret, vaudeville, and the circus all intersect.

The production is sparse, and the instrumentation obscure, like this is actually an album from a group of travelling gypsy troubadours recorded by a cultural anthropologist for posterity. Hidden Gems oscillates between the maudlin and melodramatic like “Summer” or “Another Planet,” and the playful and humorous like “Happy In Bed” or “Danger,” a self-deprecating ode to this planet’s plague of indulgent singer-songwriters. Above all, the album is heartfelt and sweetly sincere, never once verging into the pit of novelty or gimmicks into which it could so easily fall headfirst. Simply put, Hidden Gems is as beguiling as it is charming, and it leaves one desperately longing for a second chapter.

by Cody Conard The Big Takeover

Wow! Even from the very first, I was immediately taken by the Captain of the Lost Waves. Indeed these are some sound waves that have been largely lost to time, but thankfully traversed once again by the Captain. He’s come across some wonderful treasures, and has been nice enough to share some of those “Hidden Gems”.

There is some masterful melange of sea shanty, folk music, musical theatre, cabaret, and a bit of the bizarre in these “Hidden Gems” that really sets them apart from those typical stones, however precious they may be. The Captain‘s music is a whole other level above most of what I listen to, day in, and day out. And that’s not to denigrate any one of the musicians I have covered in the past. By no means. This is only to illustrate just how incredible the production of “Hidden Gems” is.

The stories contained in this epic album of eccentricity may not always connect with the listener, but they are regardless always interesting, and immense – in the sense of their intricacies, breadth of themes, ambient noise, and lyrically lascivious melodies. Now, there might be a ‘Danger‘ in pursuing the work that he is, but the Captain seems scarcely concerned about how others view him. One might say he hardly cares if one even takes note of him…but one would be hard pressed not to take note of him if ever one chanced to be in even relatively close proximity to him. It might even seem like this Captain is from ‘Another Planet‘, but…well maybe you should just check his music out for yourself.

Now perhaps ‘Danger’ about just how polluted our world is with would-be singer/songwriters (however ironic the production of the song itself might be), but of course the crux of the song comes in the line “we need more shepherds and not more sheep”. There is something of a ring of truth to that statement. Of course the opposite problem would hardly be good for anybody either. But it cannot be mistaken that the Captain is absolutely a shepherd in his own right.

Regardless, the Captain Of The Lost Waves has delivered, to those who have a care, “Hidden Gems“. So ‘Don’t Miss What’s Right In Front Of You‘, and check out this exceptional album in its entirety, right HERE. And if you have an inkling to better get to know the Captain, or maybe even join his crew (at the risk of becoming a sheep), then head right on over HERE!

sweptmedia.ca

Hailing from Yorkshire, England, nu vaudeville act Captain of the Lost Waves has
released a magical and inviting new collection of songs on their record Hidden Gems – Chapter 1. 

At times feeling like you are listening to a Broadway musical, Captain
of the Lost Waves tries to make their songs as grandiose and full of
life as possible, with tracks that resonate with listeners who are
looking to listen to something off the usual path.

Opening with “Grand National,” we hear instruments such as guitars and a
double bass, capturing the sounds of a song that could have been
written in another era. Front man, Captain of the Lost Waves, sings
with a confidence we love, though with a certain air about him that
suggest his music and demeanor is something out of a storybook, which
becomes apparent on the bands website after reading the group’s
biography.

“Danger,”
the records fourth track, has a playful but artistic flare about it,
as the group keeps up the twists and turns that their songs provide
listeners. Taking their audience through a musical maze, we never
quite know what’s going to come up next on their latest effort.
“Fat Freddy’s Fingers” is another delightful tune that shows
off the bands musical confidence but also their creative side, which
at this point in the album feels limitless. Bringing in sounds such
as a piano, ocean waves, and Captain’s ghostly vocals,
“Freddy’s…definitely feels different, while still maintaining
the artsy vibe the band very much wants to express.

While the record stops at nine songs, the group leaves us with the song
“Mr. Many Men,” kicking off with ocean waves and then Captain’s
bold and musical voice that makes the audience feel like they are
leaving a circus, and a good one at that. Purely there to entertain,
Captain of the Lost Waves does a good job at engaging their listeners
and from the looks of their social media presence, it seems like
people are latching onto the group as well. Magical and fun, Captain
of the Lost Waves will be a listening experience unlike anything
you’ve heard before.

Listen Here Reviews

Louder Than War’s Eileen Shapiro interviews Captain Of The Lost Waves. 

There are really no words created in the English language to describe the Captain. I’m sure that even if the Captain of the Lost Wave sailed the seven seas, he’d still be lost within a magical trance of music and song. Always in character, the Captain has just released some new wizardry entitled, Hidden Gems Chapter 1, a collection of nu-vaudeville, rock, mysteries, that are lyrically fascinating and melodically intriguing, a complete hidden treasure.

“An uncompromising vision shall always divide opinion, for such is the I answering conviction evident in the creation itself”. Based in Yorkshire, the Captain never does the same gig twice. Each show is unique, much like the Captain himself.

In order for someone to become a character, they have to bring something of their true self to the party. This guy is the real deal, but he’s more than that. He brings positivity into the darkest moments, through his prophetic powers, and self endured philosophies.

I was extremely fortunate to have a chance to speak to the Captain, about music, magic and the mysteries of life. If you’ve never read anything that I’ve written, here is a miraculous place to start. It’s spoken by the Captain, almost like a strange, yet inspirational kind of poetry.

Louder Than War: I know that you’ll be playing in Leeds on 25 May, so I’m going to try and catch your show. I know that all of your gigs are different, how long do they usually run?

Because this thing is intuitive a lot of the time, the album launch was nearly three hours. That was with backing musicians. I’m a bit like a casino, I have no exit sign or clock. I just go with it as I feel it. If the energy is good, the audience interaction, you feed off it. It’s a symbiosis. Often I have no concept of time, but I’ve had to be very disciplined with that too as well. The other musicians are usually dying on their feet at that point.

I realize that I don’t like anything routinely set out. That’s why I call the album, Hidden Gems Chapter 1, because I’m always creating so much that I thought if I just do one thing no matter how successful it might be, it was a thought to me that if it became successful, it might become like an albatross around your neck. The one thing I fear as a very free form artist, the fact of having to gig something because it gained some traction. I always thought to call it Hidden Gems Chapter 1, then you could have Hidden Gems Chapter 2. So that’s the one trick.

I can have a very disciplined idea of executing something to the spine of it, but I love to be able to figure and create songs on the spot with people. I love that. I suppose we all have to understand our own madness, and certainly mine is there. I never make it easy for myself. Sometimes I do say, ‘Why did I do that?’ It’s wonderful. It’s sort of messy in the most beautiful way. There’s a sense of cohesion in the sense that I’ve gone with the pure instinctive approach. It’s almost like an altered state of consciousness. Once I’m in that zone I don’t always recognize what I see, but I go with it. Usually I trust that process.

The people that have come to see me so many times, know that it’s always different. What it is, is what it is, so it’s the kind of idea allowing it to be free form, allowing it to be organic, but still being a little bit more structured. I have a strange fear of that word, and I always have. It’s always been there. These guys in the theater that do the same thing for three years in a row, it’s done beautifully, but it doesn’t hold any appeal for me. Doing the same thing night after night. I think it’s a curse for a lot of artists. People want the hits when you’re really big at one point. Nobody wants to hear new work, and you’ve got to play that. Everything has its own sense of polarity doesn’t it. No matter what we see it’s equally blessed and cursed. I always want it to be what I perceive it to be. It’s like an out-of-control puppy, that greets me with love.

You are probably up there as one of the most creative people that I have ever spoken with in my entire life.

Well, that’s an accolade isn’t it? I’ll take that with the grace it was sent. I had this from the creative point of view, little bits of industry stuff where I again felt straitjacketed by people. So I thought maybe I’d have to be a less successful artist, stick to my guns in some way because I didn’t think I could fit in.

People like Adam Ant, Culture Club, all those bands, had their own movement at the time. There was a lot more being steered by the artist. I think that wasn’t the same homogeneous thing now, generic idea of what they think we should be. I love so much darker, and the worthiness of how art is executed. But equally I look back to things that I loved as a kid, and remember things that I inherited from my uncle, like Laurel and Hardy. We’ve become so worthy of humor.

I was determined to not get too entrenched and lost in my own melancholy, which I think is my natural factory settings sometimes, and kind of go in the light, and let’s find a mix. Let’s take Stan and Ollie, and all those aspects of vaudeville and things that I’ve always loved. Music people that I’ve worked with just never got…you can’t do all these things…you’re trying to fit too many things into one box. In essence you end up as an outsider. You have to except that musicians sometimes don’t have that vision. It can be very frustrating, and there’s never been that sense of arrogance about that. It’s just who you are and if you perceive things a certain way.

I find there are very few visionaries in the industry, and even people who have been around in the industry. Where have all the visionaries gone? I do think things have become watered down. Going back to people like Adam, music had a vitality. That’s the beauty, I think it’s finding your own voice. Not being steered by these corporate boys who tell you to be like that. There is still great music being made, but I do find so much of it is very generic. Debra Harry, Talking Heads, they were brilliant. They had so much soul. Music has been very well technically made these days. I see a lot of great technical work, but I don’t feel a lot of soul.

Maybe with all of the free downloads, the artists feel in order to make money they have to create more, kind of like a factory. 

I think it’s become so watered down. I have a friend who’s an old blues player, and he’ll always say to me: ‘don’t do anything that you can cut and paste’. You try and resistant it and that’s what Hidden Gems is all about. The idea of making the album, my ideal would have been possibly vinyl. How realistic is that? It’s a kind of truly bohemian venture as to how I’m going to do this as a smaller artist. I don’t mind though, the connection is true, because that’s what it’s all been about to me.

I use the word spirit. I’ve always believed from a young boy we are spiritual beings having physical experiences. That’s always been my feeling, so what was it that I was reaching for? What was it that music has brought into my life? It’s not any sort of religious infinity, it’s about the fact that when I talk about the spirit or a spiritual experience it can be that connection. I always felt that corporate things never worked for me. And you do go through your own beating up of oneself. Your self talk can be rather punishing, because I thought I just don’t fit in. These artists tell me it’s all about inclusion, it’s actually about exclusion. We call ourselves artists but then we create our own rules and rigid expectations about how it should be performed, you can’t mix that with this, you can’t do that with this. I think probably people like Adam and Bowie before him, said he was never a rock & roller, and I’ve always felt the same. You know rock & roll can be confined by these ideals as well. I think we’ve all become diluted along the way, and actually some of us wonder why, who and where is our audience.

I think that you are a very old soul.

That’s been said many times. That’s the connection I felt with you actually. The energy of what I see and what I’m feeling, I went ‘Oh wow, this is from some other place’. That’s what I mean by connected to spirit. You’re coming from a deeper dimension than most of the music writers.

Well I was excited to speak to you. There are no words to describe you. I haven’t found them yet.

That’s a quote worth it’s weight in gold. I always find with Captain gigs, people who come and become real fans, they say, ‘But how do I tell my friends what this is?’. Maybe that’s part of the beauty, and the fact that it’s hidden to the masses. One fan said, ‘it’s like my own private secret, I don’t want to share it with too many people’. I love that!

I’ve never been a drug user. I always felt that the trips that I take creatively always took me to another place. I joke with people and tell him that I’ve never done it to reach this place. People that see me at a gig, ask me how long I’ve been on mushrooms. Sometimes I felt that we were all but mirrors, that feeling of a lot of emotional narcissism. Being a front man people have to compete because if you can work the energy in the room, and bring it together….then get two front men in a room and it’s like two strutting peacocks. I never felt that it should be a competition. But we’ve all been brought up to think that there’s not enough to go around. So again I felt very, very unplugged from that scene, to have a number 1 record, what would that mean? I kind of self-sabotaged.

That’s what I mean by the self-punishing thought, Eileen. Over the years I thought, maybe it’s just not going to happen for me, because I can’t seem to compromise. I’m very poor at compromise. I lost my father, he was 29 when he died. I was one. I grew up as somebody who was around death a lot, so I was aware that you can go at any time. Actually we are only bouncing on this earth for a short time so none of this really means all that much to me. So if you’re going to argue with someone about a headline spot, why waste all that time and energy on an exercise where in 100 years from now, nobody will probably remember who we are.

I couldn’t get into the drama enough. I’d probably get lost in it. Eventually I can start looking in the mirror at myself and go, ‘what’s all this about, it’s nonsense isn’t it’. That’s what I mean, it was always a self-sabotage of my own. Maybe that’s the path I had to take, I don’t know. People like Adam still had a certain amount of control in the arts. To me it’s like walking into a fridge. It doesn’t resonate with me. I feel a little bit of narcissism which had been caricatured through the idea that we’ve become greater than gods, our own self-importance. It’s never about me, I always say, ‘I’m here to serve you’. It’s giving myself up to a greater force. Far greater than my physical pursuit on this planet. Which is what I believe in anyway, whenever any great beauty of artistic expression comes from, which cannot be tangibly aligned to some idea that we are in control of it. Because I’m not and I never have been.

You should write a book.

Maybe. Maybe that’s the next thing. Combining those aspects of my life, maybe I should go be a monk in the hills. A lot of the aspects of Zen and a lot of spiritual aspects which I wanted to feel are embraced through music and have become almost dilute through music, so I thought where is the pure expression of all of that feeling? We find it in some music, haven’t we? I saw a fascinating documentary on Gary Newman. Again a lovely sweet soul, who seemed to be battered by the industry for years. But generally lovely man if you could feel it.

You’re the real deal.

What’s interesting for me again is it’s been a learning curve. I got involved in part of the steam punk community. The magic about steam punk is because someone said, ‘what genre are you?’, I’ve never had a genre. I reinvented myself anyway. This new invention came from having glandular fever. I was really, really unwell. I started to write things, and I put down this story, I’m a Captain, a Captain of the Lost Waves, and it was almost like, where am I going with this? What is it about that we’ve lost so many things?

I thought about community and people, and I thought the mad thing about this is the steam punk community. Here I am dressed as this character, and this role, it feels so real to me. Yet the people that connect with the authenticity of it are saying, ‘the outfit and the character is an introduction to what you are’. I thought that was absolutely intriguing.

Someone like Adam,  he was dressed as a mixture of native American Indian and pirate, his passion for all those things that he went through when the band reformed Bow Wow Wow. All the Malcolm McLaren story, and what he created authentically, a fragment of all these pieces, somehow there was something real about what he truly felt about it. That’s what I feel about this journey. I always felt there’s no joy in it anymore. When you bring the joy and the madness and the child-like innocence, suddenly people truly see the whole thing. I find it absolutely fascinating that once you put a top hat on, people think ‘oh this is an act’. Actually it’s more real.

That’s been a learning curve for me. It’s intriguing that people from the steam punk scene say. ‘What was that?’ You make a connection with someone so deeply. People on the outside that are looking in, say ‘It’s a dress festival, isn’t it?’ The people on the steam punk scene remind me of those old music scenes where people were so organic. Because steam punk has no genre, it goes through all facets of anything is allowed. You can be whoever you want to be.  You can wear a dress, make-up, not like the acoustic scene that I’ve been part of. It’s very prescribed. It’s curated by people who thought folk music should be this… Who are people to tell me what I should and shouldn’t be? I’ve never been aggressive. The only time I feel it in myself is when people tell me what I should and shouldn’t be.

You know what, I can’t buy into it. I feel restricted, like I can’t breathe. I walk away again. It’s like a child who recognizes the people who want to spend time with them, and the people who don’t. Children and animals recognize that greater than anyone. That’s why kids are so honest and so brave. They just connect to the Captain, it’s so great. The Pixar experience one reviewer called it. You can be eight-years-old and connect to it. We have this separation between adult and child. How we talk about things like sex. But the truth of it is, it hasn’t been validated. Children know we lie to them. My son is 12 this year, but Harry has always been to as many gigs as he can. We talk as truthfully as possible, while trying to retain the magic of what it is.

Is your son like you?

Yes, very much. He has a fascination about the whole Captain thing. He’s a wild energy actually.

Maybe I should be interviewing Harry.

Probably won’t be long, he’s very profound. Kids are our teachers. It’s not measured by a lifespan of years. It depends on how your experience is. Talking about prisons, they were far more people probably free in prisons. Self-imposed prison as we create for ourselves and our own mental issue. You go with personality and depression and all these things we have to deal with. I think I’ve always, I don’t know if it’s bipolarity but I always had that delving within me. So I have to be aware of that within myself as well.

You want to know what I like best about you, I don’t even have to ask you a question. 

There are always questions I guess, without even asking them. After I had glandular fever, there was this post counseling service. This doctor helps people on the physical aspects of dealing with an illness. He had an album of mine. His name is Leon. He said to me, ‘I have a lot of people that come and sit on my couch, and sometimes it could be really difficult to find the inner child. A lot of people tend to hide it. But you are an inner child, I’m struggling to find the adult’. He said, ‘When I asked the question, I never heard somebody give such an in-depth answer’. Then we got into past lives. He said that he believes there was a time in my life where I couldn’t speak. There are no boundaries. I’ve always felt very feminine at heart. I have a connection to what the feminine is. I’ve always been a very nurturing, to touch, to hold people. I’m always very physical in that sense, but also very aware of the British reserve, and people that I can read, that don’t want to be touched. That’s why I think that mothers have a job that a lot of women do, which goes unheeded. Mothers are another hidden gem. Often they are not as respected as they should be. I’ve got a 70% female brain, I did the secret of the sexes test. I remember with school friends would ask me if I was gay. I told him that if I was gay it will be no issue, I never had a physical attraction to other men. They would say, ‘You are a woman’, and I would say, ‘What does that mean?’ I see women give up so much in light of their families.

You know what, you are probably one of the most positive people. Talking to you, it seems that you turn all of your negative ideas into positive ones.

I said to you earlier that there has always been this polarity in life between a natural factory setting, melancholic and me. I lost many things in this life, so I try to see the beauty in things. I always felt like I was on borrowed time, which could be quite exhausting at times. In other ways though it would allow you to see things for the first time.

My battle in myself has always been this thing, even all the songs I’ve written over the years, as dark and despairing   subject as it may have been, I thought, ‘How do I turn this into a positive’. We can’t wallow in our pain. This melancholy, that pulls me, it’s kind of romantic, like Wuthering Heights. That beautiful romantic nostalgia steeped in real pain is part of the human journey.

That mortal part of me, in this physical vessel, I feel completely and utterly restricted by the physical experience. I’m boundless somewhere. I always felt this since a child. I’ve never explained it. If I try to reach her through physical experience, it’s always going to frustrate me, so I have to find this in a boundless way. I know somewhere deep down, we are more than this. It’s the Beauty and the Beast, literally, can I still find beauty in the beast. Yes, yes it’s there! It wasn’t about what I can achieve, it’s about how I can serve others that I meet along the way? What’s the imprint we can have on each other? That’s a far greater thing than my name being on a plaque somewhere.

Again, that goes back to the album. I thought Eileen, at the start of this whole Captain adventure, and the tales I was coming up with, I thought they are all about the Captain, and that they were hidden. It wasn’t history that people where acknowledging. Then more and more I’ve realized over the years, that it wasn’t just the Captain’s tales, it was everyone I’ve worked with. It was some amazing artists, very sensitive souls. My favorite quote ‘be as powerful as the ocean, and lay just as low’.

I have to remind myself in an industry that obscurity is such an enemy, the artist has to be sane, you have to be selling out, and I thought where is the truth and beauty in all of this. We get lost in that journey. Part of my show where people stumble across me, fall in love with it. They think, ‘how come I’ve never seen this, or heard this?’ Maybe that’s just the point. You’re not supposed to know who the Captain is. Maybe this is your own private joy.

Louder Than War

With a true theatrical flair, Captain Of The Lost Waves displays an uncanny knack for spinning beautiful storytelling on the lovely “Hidden Gems”. Instrumentally rich the way the songs unfurl show a true talent for form. Over the course of the album the melodies shimmer in the distance as the passionate vocals take center stage. By opting for such an approach Captain Of The Lost Waves is able to bring a vaudeville temperament that incorporates folk, country, big band, and a little hint of classical into the album.

“Grand National” begins the album on a majestic note, setting the tone for what follows. The multi-faceted sound works wonders in creating a hopeful uplifting message. Far more mysterious is the eerie surrealism of “Another Planet” with a twee sensibility incorporated within the folk leanings. Rather playful is the giddy energy of “Danger”. Easily the highlight of the album the jaunty tempos works to the song’s benefit, punctuating the absurdity buried deep in the song’s DNA. Pastoral sounds emanate from “Summer”. Offering a genteel buildup of sound is the spirited “This Is A Song”. Breezy and bold is the passionate “Mr Many Men”. “Afterlife” chooses an atmospheric style, letting a toe-tapping rhythm anchoring the entirety of the piece. Ending the album off with true grace is the finale of “Grand National Reprise” whose honeyed choir brings it to a close.

Positively teeming with life, Captain Of The Lost Waves chooses the path less traveled on the life-affirming “Hidden Gems”.

By – beachsloth.com at skopemag.com Diverse Music Media For The Digital Age

There is something wonderfully eccentric and marvellously theatrical about The Adventures of Captain of the Lost Waves. They throw everything into their music so much so that it’s hard to take it all in with just one listen of their debut album.

From the deliciously original artwork of Damian Clark to the music of Murray Grainger, Tony Taffinder and Dave Bowie Jr, Hidden Gems is circus, it’s enticingly macabre, it’s Gothic, it’s eerie, it’s playful, it’s music hall, hypnotically irresistible and indulgently artistic.
The adventure begins with Grand National with the clear and unmistakable voice of The Captain which uses the analogy of the famous race to create a picture of life where some are winners some are losers and some just run the race and go about their lives.
At will his vocal style switches from singing to chanting, to yodelling to what is sometimes almost rap. He can also bring a haunting quality to his voice which is quite unnerving. Another Planet has a delicious dark quality to it thanks to The Captain who you can almost see as a scary storyteller moving in and out of shadows holding his listeners in his thrall.
Add to this the music which is the wrong side of crazy and you have a track which could be from the imagination of Tim Burton or Roald Dahl. This gives way to the sound effects opening of Happy In Bed which is a cryptic song with the simple surface premise of being too comfortable in bed to move.
But as the song unfolds you realise The Captain has the whole universe with him. Danger is pure cabaret, this time with The Captain vocally camping things up a little like Jim Carrey as Count Olaf in Lemony Snicket.
This is one of those songs where they have crammed everything in, sound effects which along with the music transport you from a Parisienne smoke filled club to a travelling sideshow somewhere in Eastern Europe populated by all manner of bizarre characters in the blink of a note. Like all good mysteries there are deeper messages in there for the listener to tease out.
In some ways Summer seems a little out of sync with the previous songs in that it’s noticeably conventional apart from occasionally having the feel of a chant, however the music is powerful, full bodied and races along with The Captain’s vocals perfectly.
It segues into Fat Freddy’s Fingers which The Captain opens like the howling of a cat and we are back with the atmospheric and eclectic sound of the band. The Captain tells the story of the piano player of the title.
The song is full of marine and fishing references which are reinforced by Grainger’s bellows. Again there is so much packed into this song you are in danger of suffering artistic overload, it’s like trying to listen to a musical show, watch a film and walk around an art gallery all at the same time.

One of the more gentle pieces is This Is A Song with The Captain showing a much softer side to his singing but somehow still manages to keep a hint of menace and mystery in his style which contains a great deal of wordplay.
The song is an epic sprawl which both soothes and keeps you uneasy at the same time especially when it goes out to the sound of an air raid klaxon.
Once again coming completely out of the blue is Don’t Miss What’s Right In Front Of You which has the feel of a torch song which has been lifted right out of the Moulin Rouge.
As The Captain belts out the lyrics you cannot help but think of Edith Piaf. The band go out with an epic tune, Mr Many Men. which lasts almost half an hour. Using the metaphor of the Mr Men the band outline how complicated people are with their personalities made up of many thoughts, beliefs and characteristics which change through circumstance or need.
At more than 28 minutes long you kind of wonder where this is going then when the song fades out with more sound effects there is almost nine minutes of silence which ends with what can only be described as a reprise of Freddy’s but you soon realise there is almost an album within an album as more and more tracks come along.

Afterlife could easily be lifted from a West End musical. Strangely enough, although obviously not strange for COTLW, there are other effects and songs which could well be the hidden gems.
To use a well worn phrase this is an album with many layers, it’s constructed like a concept album in the vein of something from Pink Floyd yet the fractured parts somehow don’t really fit that mould.
There are other bands out there such as Ma Polaine’s Great Decline and Threepenny Bit who bring a great deal of theatrics into their music but not quite on the scale as COLW have done.
There are all sorts of adjectives and superlatives you could foist upon this album and most of them would fit but it’s simpler to say this is more than music, this is theatre and art and great storytelling but it would be a brave man who would wander into the minds of the musicians which created it without the aid of a safety net.

Hidden Gems is available now from the band’s website.

You can also catch them live in the New Year on January 29 at Lucinda’s Lounge, The Bloomsbury Tavern (upstairs), London. Show starts 7.30pm and tickets are £5. Then on February 9 you can catch them at The Cellar Bar, Laughing Badger Gallery,  99 Platt Street, Padfield, Glossop. Show starts 7.30pm. On February 11 they play The Boathouse, Chirk Marina,  Chirk, Wrexham show time as above. Then it’s on to Halifax Playhouse, 33 King Cross Street, Halifax, West Yorkshire on February 16. Show time as above. The band then head on to cafe indiependent, 169-173 high street, Scunthorpe, north lincolnshire  on February 17. Show time as above. To round off the month they will play The Surrey Steampunk Convivial, New Malden, Surrey  on February 25. Show time as above.

Danny Farragher, Folkall.blogspot.co.uk

The Captain’s charm is an inimitable balance of enviable talent, charismatic humour, grace and brilliant mystical lunacy

My expectations were high and The Captain exceeded them all!

Captivating and delightful, he absolutely hypnotised the audience. It is beautifully performed and charming as well as charismatic and funny.

A mesmerising performer, so confident and skilled in what he does that you can really relax in his care and revel in his world, I don’t say this lightly, but that was one of the greatest experiences of my life!

SHANGRI – LA CABARET CLUB, PRESTWICH, MANCHESTER

Live Review

Nothing other than a miracle… 

How one man can change the whole energy in a room the way the Captain does is a true natural wonder to witness… a force of nature, bemusing & enlightening in equal measure, this is not just vaudeville, this is vaudeville cubed!

It is impossible to convey the wild, weird all consuming life affirming alchemy that takes place…Not a trained Actor! What? really! I was floored!

I can only compare his mesmerising presence & dexterity of expression to that of RSC Stalwart Sir David Mark Rylance in Jerusalem, (please investigate)

 He holds your attention with such charismatic presence & hypnotic engagement that you become lost in the most focused of fashions. 

I’ve yet to mention his utterly gorgeous, unique, cinematically crafted songs, all delivered with a voice that is both gravity defying & operatic, yet shot through with a tangible palpable visceral honesty from his gut… 

A musical magician & artist of the highest order…electric & memorable in every way. 

LUCIE’S LOUNGE, THE BLOOMSBURY TAVERN, SHAFTSBURY AVE, LONDON JAN 2017

This album is the ” concept album ” of all concept albums and needs to be reviewed, I believe, as  a whole.

Some Things In Life Are Still Worth Getting Excited About ( A review of Captain Of The Lost Waves debut album Hidden Gems – Chapter 1 )   by Peter Shields, Candlelit Music

Reading adventure stories when I was a young boy. Absorbing the classics by Mark Twain, Alexandre Dumas, Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe etc. Always transported me to a magical place of awe and wonderment. Great authors allow us, the readers, to open up our furtive imaginations to ” other worlds “   Riding the waves with The Captain is like hopping aboard a familiar old vessel and sailing right back to those inspirational times. I found myself, once more a daring young boy. Carried along by the ebb and flow of the tide. This is Vaudeville. This is Disneyland. This is every letter, every word, every sentence, every chapter of THE greatest book you ever read. This is every still frame of THE greatest film you ever saw. This is a Folk Opera of Gargantuan proportions. A Broadway show ? A Pantomime ? A Television Series ? This is Stand Up Comedy. A Cartoon Strip. This is the exhalation to every inhalation you ever took. This is art. And art is in the eyes and ears … it is in the heart and soul of every beholder. Some things in life are worth getting excited about …. thank the Lord … thank The Captain !

The man who makes any part of the venue the stage…. Welcoming all comers or damn near accosting them in the friendliest of rebellious fashions.

He has inhabited a world of his own making which is like no other… He is the finest of singers; his projection of volume in scarily operatic measures deemed one to question whether he really was achieving such command whilst completely devoid of amplification … Coupled with being an actor, storyteller, poet  & comedian too , what else is there to say about his seriously off the scale elevation in executing a masterclass in how to engage, challenge & mesmerise … Surreal, joyous & anarchically wonderful.

In all of my life I’ve never ever ever seen anything like what I’ve just witnessed… A true original. How can one describe that? Beyond comparison in any way .

Musically, comedically & in the art of what makes a miraculous performer you possess it in abundance.

SURREY STEAMPUNK CONVIVIAL

‘ My album of the year 2016, though I am aware it’s a 2017
release. The Captain himself plays Bouzouki and Ukulele but his
distinguishing feature is his superb, virtually operatic singing
alongside the edginess of the lyrics and the well crafted production
of this beautifully eclectic set ‘ Colin Bailey R2 Writer & Reviewer

‘ This is exactly the kind of rare quality I’m looking for these
days…now that everything has been done at least three to four
times. This proves it’s always possible to go one step beyond. An
album both incredible, ground breaking and unique’ Lord Litter, Radio On Berlin, www.lordlitter.de

‘ An inspired masterpiece ‘ The Narrowboat Sessions

‘ Once in a while comes along an artist that not only thinks out
the box but uses the box as a stage to display all the wonders of the
world from. The good Captain is one such artist. Both rare and
unique, we need them right now, more and more. A record Bristling with the wildest musical ideas and magic

Rob Ellen www.houseconcertmusictv.eu

‘ Impossible to classify in it’s sheer scope and wondrousness…my
album of the year – and that is really saying something, given the
quality of the music I have witnessed in 2016’

Steve Clarke, Strange Brew, Cuillin FM