Album Review

The Carrivick Sisters – Over The Edge

• 7th Oct 2013

If your image of folk music is a group of old, bearded men in woolly jumpers singing out of tune then perhaps you need to listen to this album. The Carrivick Sisters, Devon twins Charlotte and Laura, certainly don’t fit the stereotype. They are young and talented and put a lovely, crystal clear English spin onto their folk and bluegrass inspired music.

This album, the duo’s fifth so far, contains eleven new songs, two of which are instrumental, and one rearrangement of a traditional song. Charlotte plays guitar, mandolin and banjo, while Laura handles fiddle, dobro and guitar. But it is the elegant combination of their vocals that gives real beauty to their music. Two pure voices harmonising and coming together to create music that is at times inspirational, at others heart-breaking, but always spellbinding.

There is perhaps more variety on the album than might be expected. The strong banjo-led title track tells of working men making a stand for the land they’ve worked – a true story in which a Carrivick ancestor was involved. It has the cadence and feel of an old time protest song. Lady Howard also sounds like an old song, but is really a modern folk song written along traditional lines about a Dartmoor legend and it works well.

Of the slower songs on the album. I Know You is a beautiful country style ballad with a rare touch of electric guitar alongside the soft acoustic tones, while The Moon has a sweet melancholy to its slow delivery. Old Friend is a gentle and moving tale sung with real feeling, an ode to a pet dog. Also among the best tracks on the album is If You Asked Me, a fast paced and lively song with a real energy. And the traditional Pretty Fair Damsel, an old American song, has a tender air and some fine instrumental work that rises and falls nicely,

The two instrumentals are very different. Making Horses has fast guitar playing from Charlotte combining with Laura’s fine fiddle work in a piece with great rhythm and melody. Slap On Eleven, with more fine fiddle melodies, was written around a slapping game – and there are even instructions in the lyrics booklet contained in rather lovely CD packaging

Charlotte and Laura Carrivick have already won numerous awards for their music, and it is easy to see why from this fine new album. Poetic lyrics are matched by fine instrumental backing and those tremendous vocals to create a very modern folk sound. And the quality of their music should give it an appeal to many outside of the folk world too.

Venue: Over The Edge
Support Band: self released