A few years ago Sticky Music released albums by a young singer/songwriter from Northern Ireland by the name of Iain Archer - and Iain has gone on to become a firm favourite at a number of festivals, especially Greenbelt. Now we are introduced to Juliet Turner, also from Northern Ireland, also on Sticky Music, and also likely to become a firm favourite with a similar group.
This album is made up of acoustic guitar-based songs; while the vocals and a lot of the guitar work is from Juliet Turner, the members of Lies Damned Lies provide backup with electric guitars, percussion, and keyboards, and Iain Archer adds some of his guitar expertise. The songs are well-written, and deal mostly with love lost and found, alongside a number of other issues (a couple of tracks seem to deal with abusive relationships and their aftermath). The unusual imagery of "Short Loan Only" particularly appealed to me:
I have no breath left,
perhaps I'm drowning,
for sure there are a lot of tears,
but I'm not crying.
Funny that, being dead,
I might weep for love but only in my head.
Musically this album is relaxing, and appropriate for the lyrics, but I would have liked to hear less electric backing and more of the excellent acoustic guitar. There is definite room for improvement, but Juliet Turner is a singer-songwriter to watch, and promises many more good albums to come.
3.5 tocks
