It’s going to be difficult for The Lost Cavalry to break free from comparisons to ex-Fanfarlo guitarist Mark West’s old band, but with their debut record Three Cheers For The Undertaker, the band have started to make strides in that direction. Following on from the band’s previous Waves to Freeze Rolling Hills (2010) and Snow City Radio (2011) EPs.

Album opener Secret Steps defines the tone of the record, and in fitting with the title begins proceedings in somewhat of a wistful acoustic dirge before slowly building into something more celebratory and bringing in some more breadth to the instrumentation.

The glorious Stars Are Ripe also sees West pushing to break free of the gloom found so widely across the album, with the marching drums and Salvation Army horns creating a notable highlight of the record.

Fara Fara also promises to be a festival crowd-pleaser, offering dream-like wonder, with the horns providing a gleeful chorus which is sure to have revellers joining in come sunshine or rain.

Only Forward sees the band appreciating their true folk roots, with the melody reminiscent of those days of yore, as men and women would tell stories through the medium, the music there to add atmosphere to their poetry. It’s a traditional sound that rarely gets an outing with the recent folk-revival, and if you manage to catch the band live, the male chorus is still and beautiful. In fact, the live performances and continued rolling on and off additional musicians adds excitement to even the most gloomy of tracks on the record.

Closing the record, Mono shows that West is prepared to strip away the distractions and lay his song-writing bare and honest, allowing us to look deeper into the man as he looks to the future.