Winter Mountain
Album: Winter Mountain
Label: Charcoal
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.wintermountain.co.uk

Winter Mountain's self titled debut album has got everything a good singer songwriter album should have: Thoughtful lyrics, catchy but not too catchy melodies, diverse paces and a transparent overall sound. As a bonus there are of course Winter Mountain's trademark - their harmonies. The similarity to Simon and Garfunkel is self evident and at the same time not quite justified because their music is still their very own thing. It's just that harmonies on this level of perfection, beauty and effortlessness are quite rare and so this quality immediately hints to the two forerunners.

Much has been said about how Marty Smyth (Donegal) and Joe Francis (Cornwall) accidentally met on a train to Chicago and shortly after formed their duo, Winter Mountain. They do complement each other in quite an astonishing way: Their vocals harmonize perfectly and at the same time they do write very different lyrics. Both of them contributed their own songs to this record, one more poetical, the other one more casual. As a result the lyrics on the album are quite diverse which gives great pleasure to the listener. There are poetic phrases like"When autumn breaks its spell and casts another one" in the beatiful song January Stars and simple statements like "Life is what it should be when I'm in your arms" in the upbeat tune Stronger When You Hold Me. Diversity also evolves from the two singers taking turns in singing leading and backing vocals. The diversity that evolves from these aspects might be why this album can be listened to over and over again. There is always something new to discover.

Evidently, this is also due to the work of an amazing team of producers (Sam Lakeman/ Cara Dillon), musicians such as Robbie McIntosh, Leo Abrahams, Audrey Riley (string arranger for Coldplay and Nick Cave) and sound engineer Mike Crossey (Keane, Ben Howard, The Arctic Monkeys) that realized the album.

It's so much worth listening as a whole that I really wouldn't like to single out one song but if I had to I would mention the engaging track Tell Me. If remembering at least one phrase or idea from a song is something that could indicate the quality of a song, this simple but original phrase has that quality: "Don't you let me let you go." That's sweet and very convincing - just as much as the whole album is.

Dagmar Brudnitzki