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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. The Good Years |
| 2. Sorry |
| 3. Better Things |
| 4. Rivers Run |
| 5. Painted It White |
| 6. Firethief |
| 7. Behind Our |
| 8. Eyes |
| 9. The News |
| 10. Sorrowlessfield |
| 11. Tongue That Cannot Lie |
Product Description
Review
As well as giving birth to her first child, philosophy graduate and folk chanteuse Karine Polwart has somehow found time over the past year to record two new albums, December's traditional Scottish collection, Fairest Floo'er, and now the self-composed This Earthly Spell. Only a full-time musician since the age of 29, Polwart's debut release, Faultlines, won the best album award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, and since then her simple but evocative style, featuring some stark, often harrowing lyrics inspired both by the history of her native land and her years working for Scottish Women's Aid, have established the Borders-based singer as one of her genre's most respected contemporary exponents.
This Earthly Spell reinforces some of the core elements that forged Polwart's reputation, but does not really deliver much of a punch. Typical tracks like Better Things and Rivers Run carry on the tradition of recently rediscovered female folk greats like Anne Briggs with their prettily meandering acoustic guitar lines and crystal clear vocals, but are little more than proficient and pleasant. Opening number, The Good Years, has the kind of hymnal but slightly saccharine chorus omnipresent in modern country, while The News's pallid jazz evokes unwelcome memories of Fairground Attraction.
It's only on Firethief, a poignant lament to a young man stricken by AIDS, that Polwart really lives up to her reputation as a songwriter of true stature. The hauntingly insistent guitar line and some coruscating imagery combine with powerful effect to describe a mother's ''bonnie laddie'' withering away to become ''a rickle of skin and bone'' - evidence of a captivating storyteller that is rarely apparent elsewhere on This Earthly Spell.
The album closes with the eight minutes plus of Tongue That Cannot Lie, a ponderous elegy to the thirteenth century poet and prophet, Thomas The Rhymer. This medieval sage was no doubt a most intriguing individual, but Polwart is a much more interesting and accessible artist when writing about the struggles of the living. --Chris White
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Q (****), April 08
"Rising Scottish folkstress still on the up...spellbinding voice...an exceptionally subtle and melodic songwriter...in a fairer world 'The Good Years' sumptuous harmonies would be all over the airwaves"
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spellbound.......,
By
This review is from: This Earthly Spell (Audio CD)
I only really heard Karine's work for the first time when "Scribbled in Chalk" came out. I listened to the previews of the new album on her myspace page and almost fell off my chair. "Firethief" is powerful and moving especially given the subject matter, "The Good Years" uplifting with it's wonderful melody and vocal harmony and "Sorry" is just too good for words. Actually, there's not a bad song on this. Karine's voice is just perfect, the playing is impeccable, the lyrics are profound and the whole thing made me smile and cry at the same time. I haven't stopped playing it since I bought it. I've already told anyone who will listen that they should buy this album and reward real talent. I'm going to see her in Edinburgh next Sunday and can't wait. Am I gushing? Probably. There's much that is naff about Scottish music but this, currently, is about as good as it gets.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
That's Proper Folk,
By
This review is from: This Earthly Spell (Audio CD)
I'd heard of Karine Polwart but never heard her perform until I spent £1.99 on the "That's Proper Folk" CD (or whatever it's called).
Possibly the best £1.99 I've ever spent, if only because it introduced me to this album. Karine Polwart was head and shoulders the winner on that CD (and I'm a fan of Cara Dillon, so work that one out) with the track "Sorry". Which meant that I had to go out and buy this CD. Worth every penny: there's clearly a trad-folk element running throughout this, whether it's the tunes or the lyrics, but with a definite modern flavour. Her singing is strong, with her accent a joy to hear (that's one of the great things about folk - no faux American accents), and this is a consistently rewarding album. If you've come here off the back of the "That's Proper Folk" album, buy this - you won't be disappointed. Now I have to get my wallet out and buy the other albums....
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Yet another flawless album? Oh and then some!,
By
This review is from: This Earthly Spell (Audio CD)
Karine didn't have a tricky second album. "Scribbled in Chalk" managed to eclipse the impact of her debut solo album "Faultlines", and "Fairest Floor" followed that with equal aplomb, so surely "This Earthly Spell" will finally be a passing work, a mediocrity, proof that no artist can be that consistent. No. Not a bit. Here are 10 songs that would shame any first album with its treasure trove of long saved songs, that both hold together in their totality and yet offer everything from political vitriol to maternal love. A number of songs have had airings on You-Tube as rough recordings but now shine all the brighter for the airy backing vocals of Inge Thomson or the clever rhythms of messers Foulds & McGuire and the ever creative and tasty, tasty perfect simplicity of brother Steven.
This is real, visceral, potent, charming, intimate and profoundly beautiful song writing delivered by an Artist and band of genuine talent and ability which will push every emotional and cerebral button and leave you oddly comforted in it's very existence.
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