The Sea Nymphs (album)

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The Sea Nymphs
A red silhouette of a seahorse over a dark navy background.
Artwork of the original 1992 cassette release
Studio album by
the Sea Nymphs
Released1992[a] (promo)
1995 (reissue)
Recorded1992
Studio
  • Tree Tops High (Snakey Wood, Surrey)
  • Sea Views (Anglesey)
Genre
Length46:47
LabelAll My Eye and Betty Martin Music (promo)
Alphabet Business Concern (reissue)
ProducerThe Sea Nymphs
The Sea Nymphs chronology
Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake
(1984) 		The Sea Nymphs
(1992) 		On the Dry Land
(2016)
Singles from The Sea Nymphs
  1. "Appealing to Venus"
    Released: 28 October 1991

The Sea Nymphs is the self-titled debut studio album by the English psychedelic folk band the Sea Nymphs, an offshoot of the rock band Cardiacs featuring Tim Smith, Sarah Smith and William D. Drake. It was originally released as a limited edition promotional cassette by All My Eye and Betty Martin Music in 1992 and was reissued on CD via Cardiacs' label the Alphabet Business Concern in 1995.

The Sea Nymphs was recorded at Tree Tops High and Sea Views in 1992 and was self-produced by the band, initially under the title Tree Tops High. Offering a gentler side of Tim Smith's creative output, it was preceded by the single "Appealing to Venus" (b/w "Tree Tops High") in 1991, which came free with the Cardiacs single "Day Is Gone" and led to the band recording a Peel Session when it was reissued by Org Records in 1998.

Background and recording[edit]

Members of the English rock band Cardiacs—Tim Smith, Sarah Smith and William D. Drake—formed an offshoot called Mr and Mrs Smith and Drake, releasing a cassette of the same name in 1984.[2][3] In 1991, it was announced in a Cardiacs YOUsletter that the band had changed their name to the Sea Nymphs and that another cassette album would soon be available.[3]

The album was recorded in 1992 along with the Sea Nymphs' second album, On the Dry Land (2016),[4][5][6] at Tree Tops High in Snakey Wood, Surrey and Sea Views in Anglesey. It was self-produced by the Sea Nymphs,[7] and initially took the title Tree Tops High before its release.[8][9]

Composition[edit]

The Sea Nymphs is a mixture of psychedelic pop, avant-garde folk, English Hymnal and electronic experimentation,[10] with hints of dancehall and classical influence.[4] Taking a different musical approach to the prog-punk japery of Cardiacs material, less time signature changes and more conventional song structures were used,[10] offering a gentler side of Tim Smith's creative output.[11] Music critics have compared the album to the whimsy of the Dukes of Stratosphear,[3] the psychedelic folk of the Incredible String Band and the work of classical English composer Ralph Vaughn Williams,[5][12] as well as the second side of Popol Vuh's In den Gärten Pharaos,[2]

"The Spirit Spout" has a percussive opening which settles into a sparser, hymn-like tone, and "Nil in the Nest" features oom-pah brass with an ascending guitar and church organ.[5] "Lucky Lucy" features diaphanous keyboards.[5] "Up In Annie's Room" has E-mu Proteus derived strings and a resonating church organ sound.[2] "Dog Eat Spine" is a surreal track with scampering piano mimicking the movement of small canine legs, and "Sarah on a Worm" resembles a curio music box melody.[5] The spacious composition of "Lilly White's Party" is dotted with birds twittering and a meowing cat.[5]

Release and promotion[edit]

To promote The Sea Nymphs, the album's release was preceded by the 7-inch single "Appealing to Venus" (b/w "Tree Tops High"), which came free with the Cardiacs twelve-inch "Day Is Gone".[3] A year later, The Sea Nymphs was released as a limited edition promotional cassette by All My Eye and Betty Martin Music in 1992,[6][13][a] available through the Cardiacs fan club.[14] In the autumn of 1992, the Sea Nymphs were announced to be supporting All About Eve on tour. A significant contingent of Cardiacs fans attended the first gig at Nottingham Rock City, where Tim Smith squirted the audience with water as he did with Cardiacs.[15]

After "Christ Alive" appeared on the Cardiacs anthology Sampler,[14] the Alphabet Business Concern saved the tape copies of The Sea Nymphs from disintegration by releasing it on CD in 1995,[16][17] allowing it for sale to the band's grateful fanbase.[10] The album was subsequently reissued on digipak CD and 180 gram vinyl in 2016 alongside the release of On the Dry Land,[18] and released on Apple Music and Bandcamp.[1][19] Org Records, the record label associated with the Organ fanzine,[14] reissued "Appealing to Venus" as a seven-track single in 1998, resulting in the band recording a John Peel Session.[20]

Track listing[edit]

All lyrics are written by Tim Smith, except where noted

No.TitleMusicLength
1."The Spirit Spout"Smith2:20
2."Shaping the River"Smith2:07
3."Nil in the Nest"William D. Drake1:53
4."A Thousand Strokes and a Rolling Suck"Drake2:18
5."Christ Alive"Smith3:24
6."Mr Drake's Big Heart" (instrumental)Drake0:17
7."Lucky Lucy"Smith2:23
8."Gods Box"Drake1:54
9."Piano Interlude" (instrumental)Drake0:44
10."Up in Annie's Room"Smith3:37
11."Mr Drake's Big Heart Reprise"Drake0:17
12."The Psalm of Life" (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow[a])Drake2:37
13."In the Corner of Sin"Smith2:38
14."Tree Tops High"Smith2:36
15."Dog Eat Spine"Drake2:51
16."Sarah on a Worm" (instrumental)Smith2:46
17."Lilly White's Party"Smith5:14
18."Appealing to Venus"Smith2:33
19."Abade"Drake4:18
Total length:46:47

Notes

  • "When all these songs have ended, listen very carefully and you can just about hear Sarah playing 'Sarah on a Worm' on a real worm."[7]
  • "Gods Box" is written "God's Box" (with an apostrophe) in the lyrics insert
  • ^[a] On earlier releases, the lyrics of "The Psalm of Life" are uncertainly credited to William Wordsworth.[7]

Personnel[edit]

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of The Sea Nymphs.[7]

  • William D. Drake – vocals, keyboards, Television Organ
  • Tim Smith – vocals, keyboards, guitars
  • Sarah Smith – vocals, saxes, clarinet, recorders
  • all the Nymphs bang things

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ a b Apple Music indicates a release year of 1991.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "The Sea Nymphs by The Sea Nymphs on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Kitching, Sean (3 July 2022). "The Strange (Parallel) World of… Tim Smith Of Cardiacs". The Quietus. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d Bell 2011, p. 198.
  4. ^ a b Shepherd, Sam (4 November 2016). "Sea Nymphs – On Dry Land". MusicOMH. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Kitching, Sean (2 November 2016). "The Sea Nymphs". The Quietus. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  6. ^ a b Hughes, Rob (28 November 2016). "After seven years away, the Sea Nymphs have come back to life". Prog. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d The Sea Nymphs (liner notes). The Sea Nymphs. Alphabet Business Concern. 1995. ALPH CD021.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. ^ "The Sea Nymphs Poster 1992". 12 August 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2022 – via Cardiacs.org.
  9. ^ "Appealing To Venus" (vinyl liner notes). The Sea Nymphs. Alphabet Business Concern. 1991. ALPH 016SP – via Discogs.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ a b c Benjamin, Stuart (21 November 2016). "The Sea Nymphs – On The Dry Land". Echoes and Dust. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  11. ^ Kitching, Sean (24 July 2020). "Remembering Tim Smith Of Cardiacs". The Quietus. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  12. ^ Worrall, Sean (26 August 2016). "Organ Thing: Sea Nymphs On Dry Land, a first listen to the glorious new album…". Organ. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  13. ^ The Sea Nymphs (cassette liner notes). The Sea Nymphs. All My Eye and Betty Martin Music. 1992.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ^ a b c Sgrignoli, Marco (20 July 2022). "Cardiacs - biografia, recensioni, streaming, discografia, foto". Ondarock [it] (in Italian). Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  15. ^ Bell 2011, pp. 198–199.
  16. ^ Bell 2011, p. 200.
  17. ^ Sampler (liner notes). Cardiacs. Alphabet Business Concern. 1995. ALPH CD019.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. ^ Wren, Mary (14 September 2016). "News". Cardiacs. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  19. ^ "The Sea Nymphs". Bandcamp. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  20. ^ Worral, Sean (18 August 2016). "Organ Thing: The reedy waters have been stirred, Appealing to Venus and the tale of that John Peel session…". Organ. Retrieved 7 October 2022.

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

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