Kris Drever & Boo Hewerdine
Album: Last Man Standing
Label: Reveal
Tracks: 5
Website: http://www.revealrecords.co.uk

Although Boo and Kris have collaborated before, on several occasions, and of course Kris has notably recorded Boo's Harvest Gypsies on his Black Water album, this new EP is the first time their names have appeared on the same imprint, so to speak, in a truly joint-billing scenario.

Last Man Standing contains just five tracks; these are simply recorded with two voices and two guitars, making a virtue of economy of expression. The split is perfectly equitable: two self-penned compositions from each man and one co-write (Lost Empires). Boo's entries couldn't have been written by anyone else, replete as they are with lyrical melodies and heartfelt thoughts: this time of sweet sorrow (Bluebirds) and wistful waltzery (Last Man Standing).

Kris's universal-themed When The Shouting Is All Over is adorned with an insistent strummed riff, while Five Past Two In The Afternoon, set to a languorous drag of a rhythm, is a sanguine (if moderately self-deprecating) reflection on a state of mind and body with which we're all too familiar!

Lost Empires is an exercise in Noel-Cowardian observation over the perspective of history, done to a jazzy lounge/parlour vamp. If this EP is an accurate trailer for a forthcoming joint full-length album from Boo and Kris, then that may well be something indeed. This taster permits us to both celebrate the contrasts in their respective songwriting styles and rejoice in the togetherness with which they present these.

David Kidman