I really enjoyed the 2009 released ‘Wicked Polly’ by this band as it was a refreshing take on an oversaturated subgenre. Utilising the very natural sounding operatic vocal talents of Tampa Florida based singer Katy Decker and Polish born multi-instrumentalist Marius Kozlowski it combined their love of American folk music and legends and resulted in a beguiling album. I had not heard anything from them since then until recently when a PR company got in touch asking for coverage of their latest album self- released with little publicity at the end of 2012.
An instantly infectious melody sees the title track coming in with a somewhat sweet and syrupy feel about it. The vocals are captivating in their natural state and quickly rise up into an enchanting higher ranged operatic peak but as I mentioned there is nothing forced about them and they are in fact nowhere as dramatic as the flailing guitar lead that follows. This has dropped us in a very comfortable place and there is plenty of appeal about it that fans of all the bands you would associate with the style will love. As it is left to the simplicity of things to win the listener over with rather than a dramatic blockbuster film laden excess of those common names bandied about it makes this stand out more even though everything is understated. ‘Blackmail’ for instance may well be a harsh sounding title but here it is dished out in a ballad etched style that simmers rising to the surface with little in the way of spite about it.
I must admit that the aforementioned folk leaning and narrative of the past do not seem to have cropped up here again and it is a bit of a shame as I actually took more out of the last album and actually felt like I had gained more of a knowledge from it rather than just focusing on the music itself. Still that aside the 8 songs here are all defined in their own right and form a very enjoyable 35 minute listening experience. Although there is a metallic edge to it and the guitar playing gives out the occasional scorching lick, songs like ‘Serpentine Lullaby’ and the album as a whole are really quite mellow and dreamily floats by on the wings of the melodic tunes and that floating voice. At the gentlest as on ‘Sacrifice’ which leads in with some acoustic guitar work and adds some retro keyboards and progressive slow burning parts to the lilting soprano vocals, it’s all quite gorgeous. Going for a bit of a canter on last number ‘Cross Within’ the album is brought to a nice closure and has kept everything sweet and simple including the accessible running time. So if you are looking for a break from the seething cauldron of black, death and grind this will certainly do the job nicely!
(7/10 Pete Woods)
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