For some, discovering The Harvest Ministers’ association with Sarah Records will be all the info required to inspire a journey to their friendly neighborhood wax shack. Of course, fans of that august label will likely be long cognizant over the Dublin group’s indie-chamber-folk-pop. In reality, music connoisseurship is only occasionally this tidy; for those non-conversant with the Ministers’ considerable back-story they’ve compiled You Can See Everything from Here, a 500 vinyl copy primer available only from their Bandcamp page. It does an exceptional job detailing the richness of their history.
Led by lyricist-vocalist-guitarist Will Merriman, The Harvest Ministers have been in existence for over 20 years, but it’s only recently that I’ve gotten hip to them. On learning of their relationship with Sarah Records, I was immediately anticipating a variation upon a certain sound, specifically sturdily-made non-trite indie pop, and was pleasantly surprised when my expectation was not only met but substantially exceeded.
The Harvest Ministers began in 1991 by issuing their first 45 “You Do My World the World of Good” b/w “Grey Matters” on their own Crayon imprint. In 2000, post-Sarah and their subsequent label home Setanta, Crayon was revived for the “Embezzling Kisses” EP, with the Ministers self-releasing ever since. And while the whole of You Can See Everything from Here does serve retrospective function, the thoughtful assemblage of the LP’s 13 selections greatly transcends mere documentation.
Opening the album is the a-side to the 7-inch debut, and it finds the violin of Aingeala de Burca halfway between a sitting room and a haystack, with her tone helping the song to avoid both an overly twee air and any hollow gestures toward authenticity. Furthermore the song’s possession of a warm vocal duet with Gerardette Bailey is unexpected and welcome; it’s quickly ascertainable why Sarah snapped up the tune for rerelease in 1992.
The Harvest Ministers’ story as told on You Can See Everything from Here eschews a chronological approach and displays significant stylistic diversity as it jumps forward over a decade with “Saved by the Love of You.” Taken from the ‘03 full-length My Star is Shining, it’s a piano-driven slice of unashamedly intelligent indie pop construction, though it carries enough verve that the atmosphere is almost funky (in that unmistakably Brit sort of way).
Though its choice of instrumentation does bring a touch of the distinct, the vibe of “Saved by the Love of You” is remindful of Aztec Camera, and it and especially following track “If It Kills Me and It Will” (the a-side to a ’93 single) simply oozes the brash and bookish erudition of the Postcard/Rough Trade/C86 era from their titles on down.
And some might decry The Harvest Ministers as arriving a bit too late to the party, but in fact there happened to be a sizable US indie pop resurgence simultaneous to the band’s early years. Their second LP, ‘95’s A Feeling Mission, was even distributed in the States by Bar/None, so exactly why Merriman and company didn’t make a bigger American splash in the period of SpinART, Slumberland, Chickfactor etc poses something of a head-scratcher.
One potential answer is that while “If It Kills Me and It Will” would’ve fit perfectly onto spinART’s One Last Kiss compilation (or for that matter any similarly themed handcrafted mix-tape from ’95 or thereabouts), the temperate rustic qualities of “You Do My World the World of Good” and to a lesser extent the mid-tempo strum of “Grey Matters” (which also opened first album Little Dark Mansion) illuminate a folk/country side that had yet to really assert itself as a genre.
Plus, courtesy of Padraig McCaul’s saxophone, “Grey Matters” wields instrumental breadth that complicates the issue even more; to these ears, its ‘60s-derived lushness forecasts the prime work of fellow undersung act The Ladybug Transistor. And “A River Wedding” further integrates the sophistication found in well-calibrated strings. Mildly reminiscent of the Go-Betweens, the track also folds strains of rural personality into the recipe to strong effect.
To The Harvest Ministers’ credit, their folk inclination never results in any strained Irish-ness oozing out of the speakers. However, even though some of the reference points are US-derived (or better put North American, since hints of Neil Young’s laidback-ness do infrequently surface), there’s also no doubt which side of the Atlantic the Ministers call home. For insight please see “Fictitious Christmas,” which brandishes vocals seemingly yearning for Dickens from the midst of that nagging old Kitchen-Sink Realism.
After three consecutive entries from Little Dark Mansion the LP grabs a pair from 2010’s Strange Love Letter. The first, “Life Just Put Her in My Way,” is a sweet love ditty that’s basic structure of acoustic guitar and voice is enveloped by Heather Paauwe’s violin and smartly fortified with Jessie Reagen’s thick cello. And those strings, alternately swelling, lilting, swaying and sawing, help raise “Tombstone Eyes” from a likeable but familiar tale of doomed amour to an appreciably high plane of baroque pop goodness.
The icing on the cake is a slow fade that accentuates the tune’s pop bona fides. And as the plug side to the second 45 for Sarah, “Six O’Clock is Rosary” amplifies the Ministers’ maximal tendencies from a very early vantage point, as Bailey’s vocals and de Burca’s violin highlight a level of ambitiousness in creation that nicely emphasizes substance over style.
And that’s a defining characteristic for truly winning indie pop. Next is ‘03’s relatively stripped down and strummy ode to the essence of another “The Warmest Heart,” and it contrasts well with the far bolder conception of ‘10’s “Friday Night Séance,” a song significantly adding to the lingering possibility of Strange Love Letter as a major late work in the Ministers’ discography.
From there, the piano in sprightly Little Dark Mansion track “I Gotta Lie Down” lends You Can See Everything from Here additional cohesiveness, with utility man Padraig McCaul also on keys for the physical LP’s closer “Railroaded.” Carrying an early-AM corner-bar sing-along aura deftly intertwined with Merriman’s vivid lyrical bleakness and de Burca’s achy bowing, it delivers a swell coda.
The digital download’s five bonus numbers add depth, and it’s through this sort-of-epilogue that the aforementioned retrospective quality really shapes up. “That Won’t Wash” derives from A Feeling Mission and “Stop Doubting Thomas” from ‘96’s Orbit (both of these albums issued in Europe through Setanta as Sarah had ceased operation with their 100th release in ’95).
Add in one more song each from My Star is Shining (“When I Became Yours”) and Strange Love Letter (digital closer “The Proms”) plus a very strong previously unissued tune for fans (“Funeral Passing By”) and You Can See Everything from Here’s total is quite impressive. It clearly elucidates the high quality of The Harvest Ministers’ work by standing as an engaging listen from start to finish.
Like any well-crafted career-spanning compilation, it avoids weak tracks as it details an overall sense of scale. Initially, Will Merriman’s outfit connects as a solid endeavor well-suited for genre aficionados, but the gist ultimately develops into something greater. And it makes plain that there’s always another worthy discovery hanging out on the periphery of personal knowledge. Obviously, more than 500 people will desire copies of this release, so interested folks should not dally.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
