You are hereEP Review: Lau Vs Karine Polwart - Evergreen (Self Release)
EP Review: Lau Vs Karine Polwart - Evergreen (Self Release)
If like me, you were always convinced that Lau was a perfectly formed entity, comprising of three outstanding musicians; one who provides a distinctively fluid fiddle sound, another whose dual role is to provide the robust bottom end as well as throwing in the occasional discordant flight of fancy, that often leaves your jaw on the carpet, and last but certainly not least, the guitarist who alternates between 'sensitive' to 'exhaustingly rhythmic' in a hair's breadth and who also provides the band with its lone voice.. then think again. There was something apparently absent from the overall sound of the band and we didn't realise it. The addition of a female voice was the 'missing' ingredient and for this splendid EP, we can rejoice in the now perfect circle.
Okay, calm down. To be honest up until recently I was never a fan of the 'EP' generally, as a product, much preferring to lose myself in at least an hour's worth of music, rather than just a sample. EVERGREEN gives us just over twenty minutes of excellent music, long enough to keep our full attention and not too long to warrant including fill-in tracks. It's an indication that there are still smart minds operating in the folk world and this collaboration, like all the other collaborative projects Karine gets involved in, works tremendously well.
The title song is a Polwart original, with an arrangement credit for the rest of the band; a true collaborative effort. The other four performances are well chosen adaptations of contemporary songs by other acclaimed writers. Lal Waterson's songs, like Van Gogh's paintings, were seemingly only understood and appreciated by a few and like Theo Van Gogh, certainly by members of her own family. Then in light of her sad passing in 1998, a whole new awakening occurred and her songs have now been celebrated by many and are now being rewarded with the attention they deserve. Midnight Feast is nothing short of stunning and Kris Drever delivers a faithfully sensitive version of the song here.
No one does 'bleak' quite like The Unthanks, but Karine Polwart and Lau manage an almost Hardy-esque arrangement on Dave Goulder's January Man, featuring a vocal duet between Polwart and Drever. If there's a necessary need to escape bleakness, look no further than Blue Nile's feel good and optimistic From Rags to Riches, which has a sprightly plucked-violin jauntiness about it, which celebrates being in love, albeit with just a particular feeling together with a wild sky.
Lord Yester goes back to The Corries days, when the Peebles baker George Weir would provide Roy Williamson with gems of contemporary folk songs, that sound very much as if they came from the tradition. If you like Karine Polwart, you'll love this, if you like Lau and you were thinking of buying this, in Kris Drever's words (and spoken in a rich Orkney accent here..) 'you'll need to.'
Allan Wilkinson
Northern Sky
_0.jpg)
