Pirate

Raise a glass of rum to Oregon’s Alela Diane. Because this, ‘The Pirate’s Gospel’, is a campfire folk gem perfect for the summer festivals. Reinvigorating the tired ‘kooky female singer-songwriter’ mould, this is an album with heart, soul and, above all, originality. The title track is a thigh-slapping, banjo shanty with a “yo ho” chorus and gutsy vocals that sound like a nautical Cat Power. ‘Clickity Clack’ has a delicate guitar-driven melody – imagine Joanna Newsom if she’d grown up in the particularly rough part of the Elfin Forest – and ‘Pigeon Song’ has more quivering fragility and mournful passion than the whole of Conor ‘Bright Eyes’ Oberst’s back catalogue. Listen to it, love it. That’s an order, you scurvy dogs. 

NME / Rebecca Robinson

On Bandcamp →

Lyrics

While some folks row way up to heaven
I'm gonna sing the pirate's gospel
I'm gonna sow these feet for dancin'
I'm gonna keep my eyes wide open

Yo ho, yo ho
Yo ho ho
Yo ho, yo ho-ho
Yo ho ho
Sing the pirate's gospel

Add another flame
To our forest
Where big-bellied whales
Keep us chanting
We're slapping fireflies
For tiny dancers
Where the children creep
Until the morning
When the sun does seep
Into our fair flesh
Until the fingernails
Will take us home

Yo ho, yo ho
Yo ho ho
Yo ho, yo ho-ho
Yo ho ho
Sing the pirate's gospel