Marry Waterson & Oliver Knight - The Days That Shaped Me (10th Anniversary Edition) (2021)

Have ten years really passed since Marry Waterson and Oliver Knight released their sublime duet debut, The Days That Shaped Me? Back in April 2011, I recall reviewing the original release, for Folk Radio UK: “Richly layered, its poetic atmosphere, haunting melodies and understated accompaniment colour the album with an entirely timeless quality”. This view still stands of the original release, but what of the re-issue? Well, it’s hard to imagine that Waterson and Knight could improve on the heartfelt empathy of the original, but the talented duo should never be underestimated. The original release is still as fresh as it was a decade ago, and with the addition of new tracks, the 10th-anniversary release is a striking, and engrossing listen.

The re-issue, released on the 12th of June with the digital album following on the 18th, marks the first time the record has been released on vinyl. It includes live band recordings and a selection of new songs. The original fourteen tracks are now joined by a further seven, in essence, a second album, and adds a further journey in the story of The Days That Shaped Me.

As Waterson said, “That first album ‘The Days That Shaped Me’ is for me indeed an album of firsts. Crafting poetry into song, discovering the joy of singing to Oliver and him playing back to me and forging a path down the middle. Those songs were the stone thrown into a pond reaching out to collaborators who became my life-long friends. The waters rippled on into a world of new connections and creative possibilities, which ten years later still shape me.”

You can read the original review here, but some quick notes on a 2021 listen. The original tracks are still as relevant and impressive as they were in 2011. The opening track, ‘Father Us’, co-written by Kathyrn Williams, remains a gorgeously melancholic track to begin with, whilst Williams returns for ‘Secret Smile’, a sweet, nostalgic song about childhood.

‘The Loosened Arrow’ is a family affair, with cousin Eliza Carthy’s raw vocals beautifully juxtaposed with Waterson’s soft, fragile chorus. Opening with a sharp, pounding fiddle rhythm, before heading into the sweeping vocals of Carthy and Waterson, it’s a track that lingers.

The visceral ‘Revoiced’ still lingers. A moody track with a raw anger captured in Waterson’s mature vocals. There is play too, with the light touch of ‘The Gap’: ‘I won’t go wilfully into winter’ sings Waterson on a track that sees the protagonist refuse to bow to convention.

Folk themes and sounds prevail, most notably on ‘Curse The Day’ and the James Yorkston co-written and performed ‘Yolk Yellow Legged’. Whilst Knight plays with rock sounds on the spiky ‘Sleeping Fame’.

‘Windy Day’ is an almost Beatles-inspired track. A narrative on a woman leaving, which has a bluesy swing in Reuban Taylor’s light piano. Taylor’s keys are further brought to atmospheric effect in the jazzy ‘Run to Catch A Kiss’.

Throughout the original, and the re-issue, the spirit of the siblings’ mother is keenly felt, most potently felt in ‘Fine Horseman’, one of the new tracks. The song, of course, was one of Lal Waterson’s and the duo delivered a moving version at the Royal Albert Hall in 2007. In many ways, this provided the seed for the original The Days That Shaped Me, and it’s a raw emotional version that’s included on the re-issue. It’s a thoroughly respectful rendition of mother’s original. The track is made all the more effective, and haunting, through the tonal similarities in both mother and daughter’s vocal. It’s an unsettling, but equally entrancing listen. The legacy is in safe hands.

New track ‘14th February’ is an almost pop-inspired track, with some light guitar and a bright, playful request: ‘I’d like some more romance’ sings Waterson, over some ethereal harmonies provided by Emily Scott of chamber pop quartet Modern Studies.

Scott returns for single release ‘Moira Maes’, another track that has a fun frisky vibe. It’s another song that plays with family memory and nostalgia, set in a landscape of fast-food cafes, spotted dick and baked beans and chips: ‘Those waitresses all say, they love me. It brightens up their day, kinda, in a dull diner’. It’s a fun, joyful, knowing track.

‘Middlewood’ featuring the squeezebox of Andy Cutting is a bouncy little instrumental duet between Cutting and Knight, with a slight easter European vibe. The fragility of modern life and complex relationships is evident in ‘We All Stumble’, an intimate little song: ‘We all stumble. We fall and we crumble,’ sings Knight over electric guitar and the playful chorus: ‘Bye, bye, baby bye bye / Don’t cry Honey, don’t cry’.

Emily Scott returns for the co-written ‘Purple Polka Dot Linen’, a sublime orchestral track, layered with the cautious piano of Reuban Taylor. Scott’s clean, clear vocals and Waterson’s more elegiac voice make for an atmospheric duet. It begins tentatively, before concluding with a resolutely optimistic refrain: ‘All the words were waiting to be liberated’.

Closer ‘Uneasy Love’ brings things full circle, with the focus purely on Waterson and Knight. It’s a defiant, tenacious closer to a striking re-issue. A vigorously, effective, and knowing track. ‘Uneasy lover that you are’ sings Waterson over Knight’s jagged, gritty guitar.

The original album’s raw sentiment is still there. The Days That Shaped Me is an album rich in personal stories, moods, and nostalgia, relevant to Waterson and Knight’s experiences, but universal in theme. It is still a powerfully suggestive listen, despite being ten years old; a measure of how compelling and universal the duo’s song writing and performance is. Add in the fact that this is a revisit to a rather special 2011 release and the album has the unique knack of transporting the listener themselves back ten years – exploring their own family tales, personal histories, and reminiscences. The duo’s talent in exploring shared themes and parallel recollections ensures you have an engaging and redolent listen.

The Days That Shaped Me / 10th Anniversary re-issue is a beautifully evocative record. The re-issue marks a new stage in the duo’s collaboration, and personal lives, whilst the new tracks explore more humorous narratives, perhaps recognising a period of healing and rebirth. The album is a celebration of family history, romances, memories, and the sheer joy of life. It’s been a poignant, and thoroughly heart-warming, pleasure to revisit.