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Caroline Herring – Twilight
This is Caroline’s debut album from late 2001; it’s an album we should have carried at the time, but a lost box of discs in a house move meant the album was never reviewed and never carried by Fish Records. We set the record straight with her excellent follow up ‘Wellspring’, but still never carried the first album….the disc has now been released in Europe and we really couldn’t miss it this time round.
Hugely well received on release (she won best new Austin artist, as well as universally positive reviews), the album still sounds as good as it did on release, this is timeless music with a distinct Texan air and the informal and relaxed feel you’d expect from an Southern USA singer/songwriter.
The songs are rich and eloquent character studies full of atmosphere and location, and she sings them beautifully – she has a deep and rich voice that’s perfect for conveying the emotions and feelings of the protagonists in each story.
Herring effortlessly mixes country, folk and bluegrass, and the use of traditional Southern instrumentation (acoustic guitar, mandolin, fiddle, dobro and pedal steel) has created an album with a traditional and authentic feel that few artists can achieve. Much of this is down to subtlety, the backing band is full of excellent musicians but everything is kept low-key with restrained performances, her vocals are natural and unforced and the production is wonderfully unobtrusive – in all these cases less is more and they contribute to the wonderful atmosphere and sense of location on ‘Twilight’.
Highlights include the wistful but still upbeat ‘Wise Woman’, the simple acoustics of ‘Whippoorwill’ and the strong melodies and lyrics of ‘Learning to Drive’ and ‘Carolina Moon’.
This is an exceptional album that deserved all the positive press it received on its original release - rediscovering the album after 3 or so years has been a revelation – it sounds better now than I remembered it to be. Very highly recommended.
HERRING CAROLINE - TWILIGHT
Herring Caroline
CD (Cat No: 13011)
HERRING CAROLINE - TWILIGHT
