Rachael Dadd
– We Resonate (Talitres)
LP/CD/DL
17 November
2014
Folk pop
experimentalist singer songwriter releases her new album.
If there was
a problem with the joint release of Rachael Dadd’s Make A Sentence single
earlier this year it was that it’s pairing with ICHI’s Go Gagambo tended to
overshadow it. Not because of any
non-musical merits, but because her husband’s madcap but undoubtedly genius
track caught the attention before the beauty and simplicity of her stunning
track. We Resonate redresses the balance
easily.
Two years in
the making, We Resonate is a triumph.
Rachael’s often sweet angelic voice is encapsulating and wholly listenable. Taking folk as a base, she fuses with Japanese
influences and African rhythms to concoct her own very unique style.
To write pop
successfully and then dare to mix with slightly off-the-wall contradictions
displays confidence, but also a wanting to add an edginess and an inimitable
slant lifts songs from good to excellent.
Album opener
and single Make A Sentence is lovely.
Typewriters tap away in the background as the upward strum of ukulele
used as percussion combines with an orchestra of backing vocals of varying
styles. Eventually, radio realised that
the track was coupled with Go Gagambo and quite rightly started to play with
affection being championed by Radio 6 and Folk Radio UK.
Current
single Strike Our Scythes carries on from the opener in a similar style. The incredibly infectious choral line is
sweet, peculiar and organic as it too utilises the voice as an instrument.
Bounce The
Ball concentrates on one repeated line only and instead of sounding repetitive,
its layered recurrence generates a wholly enjoyable experience as a clarinet
joins the proceedings and takes over.
Aside from typewriters, the album also features a steel drum, homemade
xylophone and a box of matches - even the heartbeat of Rachael’s baby in the
womb!
Our Arms is
nothing shortly of beautiful and anyone would be challenged to find a more
charming song this year. How Dadd
reaches some of the high notes that she does is a mystery, but they are
stunning and majestic.
Travel has
certainly inspired the song writing and the twelve tracks on We Resonate are
all equally capable of standing up for themselves in their own right. An album of unparalleled beauty and quality
ends with Let It Rise, a track which often threatens but avoids the temptation
to overcomplicate and lose the moment.
Sumptuous.
9/10
Links
Talitres Records
Rachael Dadd website
Rachael Dadd on Twitter
Rachael Dadd on Facebook
Go Gagambo/Make A Sentence review
Published on Louder Than War 14/11/14 - here
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