There are times why you simply listen to great music and have to appreciate it's simplistic, meaningful purity.
Lily & Madeleine's self-titled album is an example of this. They are two sisters who make folk music that's full of beautiful woven nuggets, scattered and flaked with perfect harmonies, and these harmonies offer a portrait and a design of a belief in great singing.
It rotates effortlessly from minimalist singing to expansive, bold arrangements. Particularly highlights include 'Devil We Know', powerfully vocalized alongside pounding drums and ending with sparse acoustic guitar. 'Come To Me' has a light, floating feel, but also a great sense of impetus. 'Goodbye To Anyone' has a much darker feel, but is sung with such heart that it becomes warm and lovely. There's a great understanding and telepathy between the two sisters, and gives you the feeling that their melodies and harmonies have been tried, tested and perfected since the dawn of music discovery.
On the downside, the instrumental backing does sound very basic. I understanding that the emphasis is on the vocals (obviously), but maybe with just a bit more complexity in the fingerpicking of the guitar or a greater presence of the piano would of made this a truly outstanding folk album.
Nevertheless, this is still a great piece of work, and this unravelled and unpretentious music brings a comfy blanket of sound to the ears.
Rating - 9/10
http://lilymadeleine.bandcamp.com/
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