Song of the Day: "Kentucky Pill"

In a year during which the English folk-rock outfit Mumford & Sons have gained widespread play for their rousing choruses and nimbly-plucked banjo, their compatriot Johnny Flynn deserves equal recognition for his work, blending the spirit and arrangements of traditional English folk music with his personal predilections much the same way The Tallest Man on Earth has reinterpreted the likes of Dylan and Guthrie. A man who during interviews regularly references Shakespeare as a major influence, indeed before releasing his 2008 debut A Larum toured New York with a stage company performing Twelfth Night and Taming of the Shrew, recently played in Boston and I regret missing him, not knowing the quality of his catalog beforehand.

Flynn's most current release, this year's Been Listening, features the same blend of folk-inspired arrangements, with ample amounts of fiddle and banjo and horns interjected amongst an album that illustrates Flynn's growth, as well as his undeniable debt to previous acts who have straddled the same line between traditional folk music and more contemporary rock and roll. One of the key tracks off of Been Listening must be "Kentucky Pill," a beautifully arranged pieced, layered and yet straightforward, a track that demonstrates Flynn's lyrical abilities (other not-to-be-missed tracks include: "Churlish May," "Barnacled Warship," and "Sweet William pt.2" - who can resist a song with their name in the title, I ask?). To put it simply, if you've enjoyed what Mumford & Sons have brought to dinner with Sigh No More, then stay for dessert because what Johnny Flynn serves up on A Larum and Been Listening is more of the same, and it is a delicious sound indeed.