(2022) The Carrivick Sisters - Illustrated Short Stories    


Review:
The Carrick Sisters have really kept us waiting for a new studio album. Their last, Over The Edge, was released in 2013, and we were treated to a retrospective offering with 10 Years Live in 2017. That said, this new studio album, Illustrated Short Stories has been worth the wait; it’s a beautiful gem. There’s the suggestion of unfussy simplicity to this album – there are no guest musicians; between them, twin sisters Charlotte and Laura play the banjo, guitar (including electric, tenor, acoustic lap guitar), dobro, fiddle and mandolin. And, as the title hints, they also have another string to their bow – throughout the accompanying booklet are some beautiful illustrations, some of which, especially those of children, are reminiscent of the late and much-loved Shirley Hughes, making this quite a treasured and well thought through package. However, it’s beneath the surface that the magic is really at work – enchanting stories, myths and legends; a finesse and rich dynamic to their playing, and a sibling magic that surfaces on the interplay of those instruments and blissful harmonies. The songs cover a range of tales, all of which the sisters have written themselves; one of the most fascinating, opens the album. In the Odstock Churchyard, tells the story of Joshua Scamp, patriarch of the gypsies, who was wrongfully hanged in 1801 for stealing a shire horse. His grave can be found in a small 12th Century church outside of Salisbury, and the song tells of how Old Mother Lee’s lips cursed the church. Despite the weight of the tale, the music is light and airy, with Charlotte and Laura giving the song a playful feel reminiscent of Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch. Colours, a love song, has a deep yearning feel, accentuated by Laura’s stretched dobro notes. In contrast, The Gorge is a tale of forbidden love, jealously and a deadly horse leap and is based on the legend of the Gorges du Fier. Their tales shift through time and war features on two – in the stolen dreams of the ghostly dobro-led 1912 House and War Games. The latter is a heartbreaking anti-war song which touches on how we glorify war with an unforgettable line: Sticks and stones, For swords and guns, The harmless toy of childhood. With the plaintive Crying to the Moon, they manage to sew into this compact tale a dog’s loyalty, love, an affair, murder and suicide in just over three minutes…impressive folkloric senses at play. Nothing is so sad as an unplayed instrument and on the slow, gently paced Violin Song, they tug at your heartstrings on lines like “Dust falls on me, fills my lungs, How can I speak, When the words won’t come?” but fear not…it has a happy ending. Among the album’s many highlights, I kept getting drawn back to Ever Really Knows, as much for Laura’s lead vocals as the beautiful nature-inspired lyrics with Charlotte’s electric guitar adding a vivid brightness to the song. For those that love that Appalachian feel, Sally in the Woods and Laura’s gorgeous old-time fiddle playing will draw you like a magnet. Again, their storytelling is cleverly constructed, a ghost song with a road safety warning – it has a great opening line that cleverly depicts a long winding road as ‘dark hair all down her back.’ We play out on the tale of a dancer (Amsterdam) and a timely eco-song dedicated to extinct species (Already Gone) before hitting the only instrumental, Digging Up the Rosebush, a playful mandolin and fiddle number that is set apart by its pre-war feel. Time flies when listening to this album. Illustrated Short Stories is impeccably put together, beautifully packaged with photos by Tom Sweeney and illustrated by the sisters. With cleverly constructed tales, top-class musicianship and sibling vocals to match, you have an album on which there is nothing not to like and plenty to treasure. — folkradio.co.uk


   


Track List:
01 - In the Odstock Churchyard
02 - Colours
03 - The Gorge
04 - 1912 House
05 - War Games
06 - Crying to the Moon
07 - Violin Song
08 - Ever Really Know
09 - Sally in the Woods
10 - Amsterdam
11 - Already Gone
12 - Digging Up the Rosebush


Media Report:
Genre: acoustic, bluegrass, folk
Country: Devon, England, UK
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


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