The Drummer Of Tedworth
Neuma, 2025
9/10
Listen to The Drummer Of Tedworth
The drummer, composer and vocalist Sean Noonan turns in an adventurous double album, where the London Symphony Orchestra is in attendance for the diversity and oddities.
Part I: Pnoom starts with warm voices, playful percussive ideas and plenty of animated winds, where movements like “Chewing Pith” use spoken word alongside stirring strings and cinematic qualities, while later on “Elixar of Dian Cécht” offers a more tense bout that’s mysterious. This half exits with the dense and booming “Martian Refuge”, where other worldly voices and thick drumming instills wonder.
Disc 2, Part II: Hy Lies Ahead, opens with “Only Because She Said We Should”, which showcases dreamy winds amid the frisky percussion and waves of energy, and later on “The Tin Can Ritual” flirts with rock opera ideas amid a busy landscape. “Give The Drummer A Chance” exits with group vocals and firm horns that builds into soaring moments but does retreat to calm ebbs, too.
A daring effort that puts the drummer at center stage and with a voice, we’re treated to jazz, folk, classical and theatric ideas via this cosmic saga that features his alter ego, Olis, and it makes for an unusual experience you can’t not be fascinated by.
Travels well with: Patti Cudd- Cyanotypes; Sarah Genevieve Burghart Rice- Yet