''Cold Frontier'' is the ninth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by English acoustic roots duo

Show of Hands Show of Hands is an English acoustic roots/folk duo formed in 1986 by singer-songwriter Steve Knightley (guitars, mandolin, mandocello, cuatro) and composer and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer (vocals, guitars, violin, viola, mandolin, mandoc ...

. It was recorded in early 2001 on location by the

Countess Wear Countess Wear is a district within the city of Exeter, Devon, England. It lies about two miles south-east of the city centre, on the north bank of the estuary of the River Exe. Historically an estate known as Weare, part of the manor of Topsham, ...

at the

River Exe The River Exe ( ) in England rises at Exe Head, near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, from the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It flows for 60 mile ...

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, with Mick Dolan, engineer for

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

, co-producing the album with the duo. The album features a stripped down, acoustic sound. The duo's website says the album is "possibly Show of Hands’ finest work so far." The album comes with a full colour twenty page booklet, all the lyrics, and comments on the background of each track. The album was released in September 2001 by the band's label

Hands on Music A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "hand ...

. The album was released to positive reviews, with David Kidman of ''NetRhythms'' calling the album a "triumph".NetRhythms: A to Z Album and Gig reviews
netrhythms.co.uk; accessed 16 February 2018. The supporting promotional tour, "The Cold Frontier Tour", was unusual in that it mixed the album's material with older, lesser known material from the band and cover versions of songs by artists both well known and obscure. The tour spawned the acclaimed live album ''

Cold Cuts Lunch meats—also known as cold cuts, luncheon meats, cooked meats, sliced meats, cold meats, sandwich meats, and deli meats—are precooked or cured meats that are sliced and served cold or hot. They are typically served in sandwiches or on ...

'' (2002). The second song on ''Cold Frontier'', "Are We Alright", was re-recorded for the duo's best-of compilation album, '' Roots: The Best of Show of Hands'' (2007), which features three other songs from the album. The song itself has become a live staple of the duo.

Background

After releasing '' Dark Fields'' (1997), Show of Hands experimented with recording albums of material written by people beside the duo. ''

Folk Music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

'' (1998) was a limited edition album feature the band's performances of traditional folk songs, while '' Covers'' (2000) featured the band's cover versions that reflect the duo's contemporary musical influences.'' Roots: The Best of Show of Hands'' liner notes. Released between the two albums was

Steve Knightley Steve Knightley (born 1954) is an English singer, songwriter and acoustic musician. Since 1992 he has been one half of folk/roots duo Show of Hands along with Phil Beer. Knightley was named "Songwriter of the Nineties" by BBC Radio 6 Music in ...

's first solo album, ''

Track of Words ''Track of Words'' is a 1999 solo album by singer-songwriter Steve Knightley. A lost album of sorts, which was re-recorded by Knightley and co-producer/engineer Mark Tucker. The re-recorded album was released as ''Track of Words – Retraced'' ...

'' (1999), whilst Beer worked on several projects, including the concept album ''

Ridgeriders ''Ridgeriders'' is a 1999 studio album based on music from the TV series '' Ridge Riders''. The album is a collaboration album between Phil Beer, Ashley Hutchings and Chris While. It also guest features The Albion Band and Julie Matthews. The mu ...

'' (1999) and a collaborative album centred around the

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

, ''

The Fiddle Collection ''The Fiddle Collection'' (subtitled ''Volume One'') is a studio album with tracks from various British fiddle players produced by Phil Beer. Released in 1999, it was Beer's first solo project of the year during his temporary break from Show of ...

'' (1999). In 2001, they performed their second concert at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

which was filmed for their VHS

concert film A concert film, or concert movie, is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by either a musician or a stand-up comedian. Early history The ...

''The Big Gig – Show of Hands @ The Royal Albert Hall'' (2001).History
The film was filmed by

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

franchise holder Carlton Productions, who broadcast it on

ITV Carlton Carlton Television (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Telev ...

as two dedicated half-hour programmes.

Recording and music

The album was recorded in early 2001 by the

.''Cold Frontier'' liner notes. The album was co-produced between Mick Dolan, engineer for

, and the duo. David Kidman of ''NetRhythms'' noted that the album sees the duo return "to a more basic instrumental setup". One description noted that the duo had "created their own unique musical style by combining the narrative strengths of English and Celtic traditional music with instruments and textures from other cultures." The title track and opening song, "Cold Frontier", is about "the memory of a

Roman soldier This is a list of Roman army units and bureaucrats. *'' Accensus'' – Light infantry men in the armies of the early Roman Republic, made up of the poorest men of the army. *''Actuarius'' – A military who served food. *''Adiutor'' – A camp or ...

on the fringes of the

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

with integration in today's

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

,''Rural'' book by Michael Woods. whilst "The Flood" is about the flooding in

Southern England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes G ...

. "Widecombe Fair" is about revellers, whilst "Come By" is about the "challenges facing farmers." In 2013,

described "The Flood": "One of the elements that fed into that was the death of people in the process of coming here to find work and while they’re working here, in Morecambe Bay and people who were trapped in the back of trucks. I wrote a song about the floods of people and how we should have an open door policy, wherever possible, if the work is there, and as soon as we started singing it, all these horrible stories from the Mediterranean started, people perishing coming, trying to find their way to us. So you write a song that seems topical, you think it’s got a shelf life that’s limited and then current affairs come round and reinvigorate it again."

Reception

The album was released on 3 September 2001 by the duo's own record label

with the catalogue number HMCD13. The album received a positive reception from critics. The promotional tour that supported the album, The Cold Frontier Tour, ran until the end of November 2001. The tour was unusual for the duo; in addition to performing songs from ''Cold Frontier'', the duo also performed older material that the duo had not played in many years as well as new arrangements of songs from other writers. David Kidman of ''NetRhythms'' said that the tour was a "triumph", noting that "in addition to the songs from the album itself opportunity was taken to revisit older material and showcase some new arrangements of songs from other writers both familiar and unfamiliar." The duo recorded the live album ''

'' on the tour in November, before releasing the album in July 2002. "Are We Alright" was released as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

single with "Crooked Man" in 2004. Four songs from the album appear on the band's best-of retrospective compilation album '' Roots: The Best of Show of Hands'' (2007), namely a new re-recording of "Are We Alright", "Widecombe Fair", "Cold Frontier" and "You're Mine". The first three tracks appear on the first disc , subtitled ''Short Stories'', whilst "You're Mine" appears on the second disc, subtitled ''Longdogs'', whose songs were decided after fans of the band were asked to choose their favourite songs from each of their albums on individual polls on the band's former

internet forum An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...

Longdogs, with the winners of each poll appearing on the disc. After the duo were nominated for "Best Duo" and "Best Live Act" at the

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British ra ...

2008, the re-recording of "Are We Alright" featured on the corresponding various artists compilation album.Various - Folk Awards 2008 (CD) at Discogs
/ref>

Track listing

All songs written by

, except where noted. #"Cold Frontier" – 4:15 #"Are We Alright" – 3:10 #"Come By" – 4:58 #"Northwest Passage" (

Stan Rogers Stanley Allison Rogers (November 29, 1949 – June 2, 1983) was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter. Rogers was noted for his rich, baritone voice and his traditional-sounding songs which were frequently inspired by Canadian history and th ...

) – 3:54 #"

Widecombe Fair Widecombe Fair is an annual fair in England, held in the Dartmoor village of Widecombe-in-the-Moor on the second Tuesday of September. It is well known as the subject of the folk song of the Widecombe Fair (song), same name, featuring Uncle Tom ...

" – 3:27 #"Things I Learnt This Year" – 3:49 #"You're Mine" – 3:59 #"Windchanges" – 3:23 #"Don't Look Now" – 2:43 #"Sally Free And Easy" (

Cyril Tawney Cyril Tawney (12 October 1930 – 21 April 2005) was an English singer-songwriter and a proponent of the traditional songs of the West of England, as well as traditional and modern maritime songs. Biography and notable works Tawney was born in ...

) – 5:13 #"Yeovil Town" – 3:57 #"Cold Heart Of England" – 3:24 #"The Streets Of Forbes" (Trad arr. Knightley/

Phil Beer Phil Beer (born 12 May 1953 in Exminster, Devon, England) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and one half of English acoustic roots duo Show of Hands. Biography Beer first began to play fiddle, guitar, and mandolin whilst ...

) – 3:37 #"The Flood" – 5:55

Personnel

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

cuatro Cuatro is Spanish language, Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the 4 (number), number four. Cuatro may also refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), name for two distinct Latin American instruments, one from Puerto Rico (see cuatro (Puerto Rico), ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

mandocello The mandocello ( it, mandoloncello, Liuto cantabile, liuto moderno) is a plucked string instrument of the mandolin family. It is larger than the mandolin, and is the baritone instrument of the mandolin family. Its eight strings are in four paire ...

concertina A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front. The ...

- vocals, cuatro,

, guitar, mandocello,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

*Paul Downes - mandocello,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

(track 6) *John Redmond - bodhran, backing vocals (track 6) *Paul Wilson -

melodeon Melodeon may refer to: * Melodeon (accordion), a type of button accordion *Melodeon (organ), a type of 19th-century reed organ *Melodeon (Boston, Massachusetts), a concert hall in 19th-century Boston * Melodeon Records, a U.S. record label in the ...

, backing vocals (track 6)

References

{{Authority control 2001 albums Show of Hands albums