With a graceful air of stripped back simplicity, Kelly
Oliver announces her arrival on the UK folk scene in the guise of an album rich
in honesty and sharing a blossoming talent wrapped around songbird
sensibilities. Essentially Kelly is one young lady, one guitar, part harmonica
and a million words flowing from her creative gifts to fuel the outlet of
her golden vocals. Helping hands have played their part in channelling THIS LAND
from demo status to a fully-fledged album release but never hindering the
captivating focus that the listener has in discovering the musical talent of
Kelly.
Iconic British folk fiddler Dave Swarbrick kindly lent a
hand to ‘Grandpa was a Stoker’, while
two up and coming talents at the other end of their careers contributed in different
ways to a pair of stand-out tracks on the album. Kelly’s cover of the Dougie
McLean classic ‘Caledonia’ first
surfaced on the recently released FEMMES FATALES OF FOLK record and also graces
this debut full length album with the added input from the increasingly
acclaimed Midlands singer-guitarist Sunjay Brayne. Also making a vocal contribution
this time is another BBC Radio 2 Young Folk nominee in Luke Jackson who helps
turn the lead single from the album ‘Diamond
Girl’ into a near duet.
Apart from the cracking aforementioned cover, the only other
non-Kelly original is the traditional ‘Mary
and the Soldier’ as the album feasts on the song writing acumen of an artist
itching to commit her inner thoughts to song. These originals include another
song to feature on the FEMMES FATALES OF FOLK album as Kelly turns her writing
skills to the centuries old tale of the last witch trial and arriving at ‘The Witch of Walkern’. Kelly is fast
emerging as the starlet jewel of the Folkstock stable which particularly
champions unsigned female folk talent and was the architect of the compilation
album which featured two of her recorded tracks.
While Kelly claims several alternative influences, THIS LAND
has its feet firmly placed in the traditional camp and perhaps understandably treads
a conservative line in style. Experience and maturity will surely lead to further
exploration as the talent is there to exploit experimentation. Two great
Internet showcases of acoustic music have featured Kelly in Songs from the Shed
and Whispering Bob’s Under the Apple Tree Sessions. The former saw Kelly
preview the album tracks ‘Mr Officer’
and the painful love song ‘Daughter Dear’,
both featuring her newly learnt harmonica skills. Another fine ambassador of folk music Fatea
Magazine gave the excellent ‘Far From
Home’ valuable exposure as part of their quarterly downloads and this
delightful track gets better with each subsequent listen.
The three remaining tracks all carry on in the same vein
with Kelly opting to retain a fairly straightforward yet successful formula
when unleashing her songs wholeheartedly on the folk community. ‘A Gush of Wind’, ‘Off to the Market’ and
‘Playing with Sand’ all have a
standard storytelling structure each addressing their tale with classical ease
and accompaniment. Right across the album Kelly decorates each track with a
vocal style that was savoured live when she played a short set at this year’s
Cambridge Folk Festival.
THIS LAND is a commendable collection of songs to launch the
full length recording career of Kelly Oliver. While on the surface it seems
directed to a traditionally orientated listening base, there is a potential to
reach out to a wider audience and bring differing strands of roots music
together. The lid is now off Kelly’s potential and the challenge is not to be
impressed.
www.kellyoliver.co.uk
www.songsfromtheshed.com