All female Canadian trio play a blend of North American roots and folk music that is simply presented with guitar, banjo, fiddle and bass, but the restrained arrangements are the perfect approach for the vocals and harmonies that are the real star of the show. It’s a beautifully delivered album that falls neatly between the vocals of The Wailin’ Jennys and the roots elements of The Be Good Tanyas, taking in the best elements of both and presenting these timeless elements in a fresh way.
Guitarist Amanda Blied takes on most of the lead vocals across the 13 songs, but each of the trio take the lead on at least one song – the magic really happens when they’re all singing; the three distinct voices come together to create some beautiful moments.
While the vocals take centre stage, these are three excellent musicians too, notably Miriam Sonstenes who adds some exceptional fiddle in places that really adds colour and detail to the banjo of Shanti Bremer and guitar of Amanda.
Almost all of the songs are self written, with a pair of trad songs on the disc, and the quality of their own songs matches the quality in the playing and singing, with the highlights all coming from self written material – right from the delicate opener ‘Circle Song’, the upbeat bluegrass of ‘Don’t Walk Away’ through to the beautiful closing song ‘Red Shift Blues’ there’s a real attention detail throughout.
This is an excellent album full of sweet playing and even sweeter singing, not to be missed.
Track listing
1 Circle Song
2 Sing It High to Low
3 Riverside
4 Chicken Under the Washtub
5 Don't Walk Away
6 Ten Bar
7 Going Up On the Mountain
8 River's Deep
9 Western Country
10 $100
11 Sapphire Waltz
12 Lights Across the Water
13 Red Shift Blues
review 17 Jan 2012
