What more gentler way could be needed to ease you into a new
year than the cherubic tones of Canadian folk super group The Wailin' Jennys. Maybe
prolific is not a tag to label this loose trio, with each recording over their
fifteen-year existence being as sparse in its frequency as to the sound it
heavily relies on. However, to get notification that an ‘out the blue’
recording was to hit the shelves here in the UK in the first week of January
was the perfect tonic to launch another twelve months of music musings. FIFTEEN
may not win prizes for subtleties in the album title, but who is judging when
the harmonious voices of Ruth Moody, Nicky Mehta and Heather Masse are in
unison.Nine tracks and thirty-five minutes is not a too demanding task to savour the elegance of this release. To think about it, doubling both factors would hardly be an arduous act, but let’s not get greedy and just rejoice that the trio are back in recording mode for the first time since 2011. Not that the intervening years haven’t been musically fertile, with perhaps more focus on the solo work of Ruth Moody. On the other hand, there is something soothing about the sensitive harmony and this record has plenty to feast on.
The subject material for this anniversary release has
steered away from the original song. Dips into the traditional domain, coupled
with both familiar and unfamiliar covers from a broad range of artists have
proved rich pickings for an album once again released under the True North
Records umbrella; an outlet for so much good Canadian music over the years. For
the pick of the tracks, it is hard to look past their take on the Emmylou
Harris classic ‘Boulder to Birmingham’.
Maybe, this is far from a left field choice, but the version stays true to the
eminence of the original with just the slightest of subtle twists on the chorus
focal line.
 |
| Photo by Morten Fog |
Closely following this highlight is an A Capella take on
Dolly Parton’s ‘Light of a Clear Blue
Morning’, which lifts the listener into a crystal stratosphere. If you
think the sources for the first two mentioned tracks are cut from a certain
crust, subsequent leanings towards the works of Tom Petty, Patty Griffin, Paul
Simon and Warren Zevon in other offerings, confirm the legendary status of the
influences. Perhaps, the most interesting addition to the line-up, is the
post-humus Hank Williams song, ‘Weary
Blues from Waitin’’, which closes the album in the same distinguished way
that it opened half hour previously.
That opening moment is more in-synch with the trademark
Wailin' Jennys that we were introduced to via their seminal recordings of the
mid-2000s. The traditional ‘Old
Churchyard’ has a very English feel to it, a sound that graced many a venue
over here during the period when the group were more active on the live front. One
significant evening from their many tours of the day was a show at the
Huntingdon Hall in Worcester, complete with a stunning version of ‘The Parting Glass’ ensuring the gig
memory never faded. Despite a couple of early line-up changes with Cara Luft
and Annabelle Chvostek passing through on the way to successful solo careers,
the current trio of Ruth, Nicky and Heather has been in place for around a
decade and maybe the issuing of FIFTEEN can herald a new age of overseas Wailin’
Jennys touring.
A bold start to a new era is doused in the timeless and minimalist serenity that soaks the songs bestowed with the glorious Wailin' Jennys treatment. If you want three blended voices to take with you on your musical excursion then this trio will most oblige. An unblemished start to what will undoubtedly be another fine year of inspirational music.
TRACK LISTING
1. Old Churchyard (3:15)
2. Wildflowers (3:42)
3. The Valley (5:48)
4. Light of a Clear Blue Morning (4:27)
5. Loves Me Like a Rock (2:26)
6. Boulder to Birmingham (3:20)
7. Not Alone (4:39)
8. Keep Me in Your Heart (3:37)
9. Weary Blues From Waitin’ (3:13)
More album info
