The Woody Nightshade

It is quite nice to have a friend who records albums. Because you can listen to them on your way to work in the morning. And in the evening. For the past month I have been listening daily to Sharron Kraus' new album "The Woody Nightshade". I have to say I think it is, to me, my favourite album from Sharron though I am fond of many of her albums, in particular "Songs of Love and Loss" and "Right Wantonly A-Mumming". And there are some similarites between these albums; a search for more raw sounds, a search for more truthfulness perhaps. It is a very vocal album too, with less instruments and more voice with singers Clare Button, Susanna Starling and Nancy Wallace. It is said that Sharron makes "dark folk for the millenium" and yes, it is exactly that, especially when you hear the first song "Nothing". The second is a ballad, "Two Brothers" with a lovely text. "Heaviness of Heart" is some sort of portable philosophy you can listen to, a reflexion about our moods in life with lovely vocal lines in the melody and just basic drums that are used throughout the rest of the album. "Evergreen Sisters" (freely available on the www) goes back to the atmosphere of the first song, dark and folky, and so does the amazing "Teacher". "Rejoice in Love" is a lighter piece and can make us think somehow of "Angelica Caraway" in the "Songs of Love and Loss" album. But, to me, the best song of the whole album is the last one: "Traveller between the Worlds", sort of odyssey, a travel song that is absolutely magnificent. The basic music and rhythm make it almost repetitive in an hypnotic kind of way, close perhaps (should I know enough about this) to shamanist or sufi practices. A great album, available on the www either on download or as an object still (ie. a CD). Oh I feel a very privileged friend indeed! :-) And I am looking forward to either a concert nearby or just Sharron's next visit to the Half Moon pub's live music session :-)

Lucile Deslignères 22 Jan 2011

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