Chapin-Wickwar
Album: If
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 11
Website: http:artyxan.wix.com/chapin-wickwar

Chapin-Wickwar are a duo of singer-songwriters, Lisa and Sue, from West Cumbria, who met at a song writing workshop at the tail end of 2013 and became a duo following a jam session at the event and a couple during the course of 2014. The eleven track debut album "If…" are the first musical fruits of their collaboration and it appears to be founded on fertile ground.

Let me get the whinge out of the way early doors. I don't know if it's down to the copy of the album I've got being a promo copy, but the girls need to pay more attention to the quality of the cover. I appreciate it's a self released album, but that's not an excuse to ignore detail, it opens the wrong way and when you open it, there's nothing in side, no lyrics, no website details, just a bit more thought needed here.

A bit more thought needed is not something you can level at the songs, all of seem to draw on real events and tie them into evocative narratives and combine them with rich melodies and a forthright delivery that give the whole album a real honest feel.

At times it doesn't make for easy listening, sometimes you get that feeling you're intruding, but ultimately you do get the feeling that Chapin-Wickwar want to share. They don't just want you in the songs for the good times, they want to give that sense of context. Yes there are elements of a diary album, but they are only hints. The majority standalone in their own right, but there are a couple that feel stronger for the sake of their predecessor, but that also happens to be true of any well sequenced album.

"If…" has set the girls a high standard, but it also makes them stand out. It encourages me to check out their website and see where they're playing. This is an album of songs that feature life in the raw, but are delivered with polish and that makes it not only worth exploring, it makes it well worth acquiring.

Neil King