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Kate Rusby – Awkward Annie
‘Awkward Annie’ is Kate’s 6th solo studio album and the first disc where she’s taken on the role as producer. Where her last few albums had seen a subtle shift to warmer production and more lush arrangements, ‘Awkward Annie’ has more in common with ‘Hourglass’ and ‘Sleepless’ and there’s a lovely lightness of touch about the arrangements with rhythmic acoustic guitar picking forming the base for many of the songs.
What hasn’t changed though are Kate’s vocals, gentle, honest, clear and utterly engaging; there’s an immediacy and warmth that few artists ever come close to matching. While the overall sound may lean towards her earlier discs, there’s more maturity obvious in the voice which gives both the traditional material and her own songs more weight.
Six traditional songs sit alongside five Rusby originals (and a Ray Davies penned bonus track), and that balance is just about right; her own songwriting gets stronger with each album and she’s writing songs that lie comfortably with the traditional material.
Her band on the disc is as strong as ever, McCusker, Seward, Cutting and Carr are pretty much ever presents providing superb instrumentation, but the guest musicians really stand out - guitar from John Doyle, mandolin from Chris Thile, flute from Michael McGoldrick, plus there’s a traditional brass band arrangement alongside strings and banjo. It may look odd on paper, but it’s all held together by Kate’s voice and it results in a rewarding and unique sound.
There are many great songs here ‘Streams of Lovely Nancy’ is one of my favourite traditional songs and Kate’s version is beautiful, ‘The Old Man’ is a classic Rusby handling of a traditional song, added to by some superb guitar work from Doyle, and ‘Bitter Boy’ is a strong self-penned piece that’s full of emotion and beautifully sung.
’Awkward Annie’ is Kate’s best album for a few years, excellent performances throughout, married with a simpler production style has resulted in an album that is rewarding across all 12 songs. Very highly recommended.
RUSBY KATE - AWKWARD ANNIE
Rusby Kate
CD (Cat No: 13276)
RUSBY KATE - AWKWARD ANNIE
