Larkin Poe

It may seems a little odd, while we are trapped in the depths of ‘winter freeze’, to release an EP titled ‘Summer’ but this follow up to the wonderful ‘Spring’ is part of a suit of releases for all seasons – no doubt ‘Winter’ will be released in August to remind us what the joys of cold are while we are sweltering in 100 degree horrors.

No matter; the important thing is that this is a superb follow up to their last release, very different and reinforcing their reputation as terrific songwriters and singers.

There is a real springtime bounce to the music here although it starts with a dark and heart-wrenching country number in ‘Waiting For The Bell’.
‘Sea Song’ on the other hand is much lighter in tone with a lovely lilt to the vocals and a brush snare pushing the piano and lapsteel along.
‘Wrestling A Stranger’ is a more adult and jazzy affair with a darker and more intense sound and some superb guitar courtesy of Mike Seal.
There is something almost reggae-like about the rhythms of ‘Natalie’ and if there is one track on the set that is a radio-cert that is it. Brilliant melody and you find yourself humming it happily well after the song has passed.
The next track, ‘Enough For You’ is complex and reminiscent of Heart at their best while ‘By The Pier’ is sombre and dark with a wonderful vocal from Rebecca Lovell.
The next few tracks are all live numbers – a brilliant version of Blind Willie Johnson’s ‘In My Time Of Dying’, Rebecca Lovell’s ‘Principles of Silver Lining’ and Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’ and the three numbers show that the girls can really cut it on stage – promise to self; see this band live next time they6 are in UK.

My only negative comment about the entire CD is that I would have liked to hear the vocals more strongly on the studio numbers but that is only a minor gripe – they are a very fine pair of musicians and their mixture of country/jazz/folk/Blues/Bluegrass suggests that they really don’t place limitations on themselves and neither should we.