Esther Rose Parkes
Album: The Other Country
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.estherroseparkes.com

There's very little biographical info about Esther on her website, I'm afraid, other than the skeletal statement that she has "a European background which takes in Germany, Sweden, France, the UK and the Channel Islands", and describing her music as "not easy to pigeonhole".

As is my want, I tried to investigate Esther's background and CV further, but unfortunately drew a blank and could find no reference to her anywhere, and no mention of any previous recordings. Apparently, Esther quite recently spent three years in Sweden (this album was recorded in November 2012 in Stockholm), and a certain Nordic sensibility might be said to inform the ambience of this collection of largely self-penned songs. Well, entirely self-penned in four cases, the remainder having been co-written with the poet Linda Rose Parkes, who is listed by Esther herself on the album's acknowledgements page as "my mother, collaborator, sister and friend" - but clearly she cannot be all of those things!

According to Esther's website, the songs "enact a search, a yearning to belong, to encounter and inhabit a soul-scape… a quest that most listeners growing up in today's world of disenfranchisement and alienation will quickly recognise". Sure, these aspects are conveyed simply and strongly in Esther's clear-toned singing and clear-textured settings. The album's special, intimate musical ambience is largely attributable to its concept of "duet instrumentation", the most prevalent element of the soundscape and the brainchild of discussions between Esther and guitarist and producer Brian Kramer.

Textures are kept simple throughout, even when additional musicians are employed (piano, Wurlitzer, cello, harmonica, upright bass). Having said that, first impression is of a slightly over-precise mood and delivery, with quite deliberate enunciation, but Esther's voice is so appealing that any such slight reservations are quickly overcome - at least in my experience. Her captivating and resilient lyrics are both poetic and knowingly referential and genuinely inspiring, and her life-vision wins through. Like the artwork too.

David Kidman