The album begins with a lushious guitar sound before you are immediately introduced to the beautiful harmonies from the two talented songwriters behind the music. John Paul White and Joy Williams first met at a songwriting session in Nashville in 2008, and have since created this stunning album. The band have already gained plenty of success in the U.S having picked up two grammys, including best folk album. They have built up a great reputation through performing and word of mouth and have supported Adele on the U.S leg of her North American tour. After a listen to the album and seeing a live performance it is easy to understand why they have gained such attention.
The first track on the album is '20 Years' which is filled with light touches and distant chimes that create an intimate and soothing atmosphere. The voices together are truly special and hit some tremendous peaks. If you want to see the power the two create when they play live, see the performance of the title track 'Barton Hollow' on the Jools Holland show, it is stunning. The second track 'I've got This Friend' keeps you in the same intimate atmosphere as the vocals and verses are shared, the harmony in the chorus is again superb as they sing, 'if the right one came along'. It is a very well recorded album and it is not over produced. It has tracks with few parts and the songs are played superbly. Rather than being filled to the brim the tracks are given plenty of space and room to breath and fill their potential.
Poison and wine is a brilliantly written song with powerful lyrics, 'Your mouth is poison, your mouth is wine, you think your dreams are the same as mine', 'your hands can heal, your hands can bruise.' This song was found to be 5 tracks into the album and by this point I was looking forward greatly to the next seven.
Next comes 'My Fathers Father' which offers more beautiful melodys sung exquisitly. Then comes the powerful and harder hitting 'Barton Hollow' which is pushed into life by strong harmonies before the riff kicks in. The guitar then drops out as the vocals take the lead as they sing 'do me no good washing in a river, can't no preacher man save my soul.' 'The Violet Hour' follows with it's delicate combination of guitar and piano, as those vocals are unused for the first time. 'Forget Me Not' provides the album with it's biggest country sound and is filled with responding strings. The album is rounded off with a down to earth, minimalistic and almost haunting live version of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean.
It is an intoxicating album that makes me want to set off on some much needed travels, feeling safe in the knowledge I have dealt with the emotions at home.
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The first track on the album is '20 Years' which is filled with light touches and distant chimes that create an intimate and soothing atmosphere. The voices together are truly special and hit some tremendous peaks. If you want to see the power the two create when they play live, see the performance of the title track 'Barton Hollow' on the Jools Holland show, it is stunning. The second track 'I've got This Friend' keeps you in the same intimate atmosphere as the vocals and verses are shared, the harmony in the chorus is again superb as they sing, 'if the right one came along'. It is a very well recorded album and it is not over produced. It has tracks with few parts and the songs are played superbly. Rather than being filled to the brim the tracks are given plenty of space and room to breath and fill their potential.
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