Reviews

Artist: Chris & Siohan Nelson
Album: Early Birds
Label:Self Released
Tracks: 15
Website:http://www.chrisandsiobhan.co.uk/

The songs on "Early Birds" cover over three hundred years of song writing, though most are from the last fifty odd years and highlight a couple of things. There really is very little that's new under the sun and that husband and wife duo, Chris & Siobhan Nelson, know how to find a good song, as well as write one or two of their own.

I guess that when Leonard Wheatcroft penned the words for "The Bone Lace Weavers" that it would still be sung three hundred and fifty years later and still sound fresh. Part of the reason for that is Siobhan's crisp and sharp vocal which carries a song so well and allows the accompaniment to be sparse and delicate.

Similarly when Bertolt Brecht conceived the basis of "The Wife Of The Soldier" he didn't envision it being delivered by an English folk duo, with just the mearest hint of Madeline from Bagpuss, I'm not sure it was intended that way, but it adds an extra depth to the war and suffering theme of the song.

That said it's when performing songs from occasional collaborator, Barry Wake, that duo find an additional sparkle in an already strong album, there's an almost whimsical flow that draws you into the songs and engulf you in its depths.

This is what traditional folk music is about, love, life and social justice. Chris And Siobhan really make it a living, breathing, twisty turny thing. It can be fast, slow, happy sad, but it makes you part of the experience and holds you rapt. Early Birds get to take some of the best that's on offer, to take some of the best that's on offer, get "Early Birds".

Neil King

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