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Niet mijn eigen tekst, maar ik wil de hobbyisten en ex-leraren onder ons niet te kort doen. Ik hoor het wel. Ik vind het gewoon leuke muziek die ik onder jullie aandacht wil brengen. 

Whopping understatement alert: folk music has never been the kindest genre to women. All those virgins led down to rivers by rogues to be deflowered and drowned; so many girls and mothers punished horribly, even fatally, for throwaway reasons. Hearing these songs revisited regularly reminds folk-lovers of history’s grimness, of course, but sometimes it can feel like the aural equivalent of watching another TV drama lingering on a beautiful dead body. 

In 2018, however, modern folk feels much more woke, to use a fashionable phrase. Take the debut album by Brighton-based duo Hickory Signals – married couple Laura Ward and Adam Ronchetti – which skilfully ploughs this rich furrow. An album mixing traditional songs with banjo and string-framed originals, it begins with a song about the reclusive life of 20th-century English poet Rosemary Tonks, a “grieving widow’s only child” who “rages for the truth”. It takes in songs about refugees (Kana), the wisdom of young women (Two Girls) and F Scott Fitzgerald’s wife (Zelda), joyfully “dancing alone” when everyone has left her. It finishes with a gorgeous take on the traditional Bushes and Briars, about a woman who wants to show her lover “boldness”, despite knowing what might happen if she does.
Turn to Fray was made to explore the theme of people unravelling, something Ward and Ronchetti understand well given their day jobs. Ward works with women and families affected by substance abuse and has volunteered with refugees; Ronchetti teaches young adults with learning disabilities.

Even without this in mind, the album’s mood is direct, atmospheric and deeply affecting, its stunning title track especially so: “I’ve known what to do / For such a long time,” says its subject, admitting she has found a bleak kind of safety in not changing her lot, before finally steering away. It’s a powerful moment.

Tracklisting:
  1. Rosemary
  2. Who Put The Blood
  3. Kana
  4. Two Girls
  5. Doors To My Mind
  6. Noise Of The Waters
  7. Turn To Fray
  8. Here I Am
  9. Zelda
  10. Bushes And Briars

Staat er compleet op, 20% pars meegepost. Met zeer veel dank aan de originele aanbieder.