Reviews
GreenLady Album: GreenLady
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 10
Website: https://greenladymusic.bandcamp.com/album/greenlady
GreenLady, describe themselves as a psychedelic folk band from Brooklyn USA. Fronted by husband and wife team Joseph Milazzo (acoustic guitar, vocals) and Sylvia Herrera (vocals), they're heavily influenced by the British Folk Revival of the 1970s but with influences from both Country and Classic Rock. My first thought on listening to the album was that this was Mr. Tambourine Man, but The Byrds version rather than Dylan. The songs are rounded out by some subtle but effective electric bass. Joseph and Sylvia's voices work well together; simply sung with a very natural sound. The band's name, I believe, comes from The Green Lady, known in Scotland as a protector of house and family. Neither human or spirit she may be a cross between the two and there is an esoteric dreamlike quality to their work.
One track caught my eye straight away. "Bella in the Wych Elm" is a subject I'm surprised more artists haven't explored, as it's classic folk territory. In 1943 Worcestershire four boys, going full Enid Blyton in the woods, discover a skeleton in a hollow Wych Elm. Who put it there, and who was she? Ideas have been mooted from a Birmingham sex worker to a Dutch woman who had got too close to a Nazi spy-ring. Given the location and the tree, links occult rituals were inevitably raised. Nobody knows, but adding further to the mystery graffiti, as recently as 1999, has asked "Who put Bella in the Wych Elm"?
This is a narrative song, telling the story as it unfolds. That's a style that harks back to earlier folk. Sticking to the theme "Poor Murdered Woman" does what it says. It's the story of times long gone where the squires find the women laying dead upon the ground but given a decent burial. Classic folk.
"Hidden World" takes a theme that repeats through the out of listening to nature, of finding the hidden places and messages they have for us. Again it has earlier sound that wouldn't be out of place at Woodstock. "Bells of Winter" is well done for its simplicity. Minimal notes on the guitar, with a bit of electric background, again does what it says. It's about hearing the bells ringing out during winter and looking to spring when the memories of the hard times endured will fade. It's a lovely track with a chorus that's designed to be joined in with.
There's a lot to commend this album. GreenLady have clearly drawn on their influences, freely acknowledged, to give a sound that both harks back and looks forward. That will give it a wide appeal across the "folk" spectrum and is well worth a listen.
Tony Birch
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