Marry Waterson and David A Jaycock - Death Had Quicker Wings Than Love

The Guardian 80

(One Little Indian)

This album begins with a woman on a rooftop alone, singing to the birds, her voice gutsy, darkly magical. Since her first album away from her folk dynasty family, 2015’s Two Wolves, with outstanding guitarist David A Jaycock, Marry Waterson’s many talents have been unfurling themselves, like late-season roses bursting from cut branches. This record’s mood is bracing and physical, swaying between solo Sandy Denny and tracks by Waterson’s own mother Lal on the recently reissued Bright Phoebus, its backing band from the worlds of alternative pop and rock (Portishead’s Adrian Utley produces, while Kathryn Williams, John Parish and Romeo Stodart provide subtle support). These abstract, poetic songs – about crowns of dead maidens (the title track) children leaving home (the devastatingly gentle Forgive Me), and punishing relationships (the darkly erotic Gunshot Lips) – enter the bones too. Throughout, Waterson’s command wrenches, cossets and hugely impresses.

Thu Sep 21 17:30:24 GMT 2017

The Guardian 80

(One Little Indian)

A member of Yorkshire’s Waterson/Carthy folk dynasty, Marry sings in a style reminiscent of her late mother, Lal, and her aunt Norma; strong but plaintive, with a tendency to wistfulness that comes through on this set of originals around the theme of loss. David A Jaycock’s intricate acoustic guitar provides a sweet foil, creating a dreamy atmosphere on New Love Song and a title track about a maiden’s death. Producer Adrian Utley (of Portishead) is content to keep things simple; opener The Vain Jackdaw, based on an Aesop fable, recorded unaccompanied on a rooftop, is delightful, but elsewhere the mood remains relentlessly forlorn.

Sun Sep 24 07:00:38 GMT 2017