Cuckoo Hill - Charlie Dore Album Review

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Album Review

Best known for her 1980 anthemic single Pilot Of The Airwaves, Charlie Dore returns with her second album in two years, following Sleep All Day and Other Stories (2004). Working again with long-time collaborator Julian Littman who shares instrumental duties, they have created a real gem. Dore said of her album;

I liked the freedom of going from Captain of Industry, which is just a schoolroom piano and brass band, to a tabla-based groove with Guy Barker's trumpet on top on Your Lover Called, to more eastern-European influenced tracks like My Wayward Friend and When We Fall, then going west again with mandolin and dobro on Looking For My Own Lone Ranger. On the other end of the scale we've got a full-tilt bluegrass track, When Bill Hicks Died.

The album's title is taken from the street where she was brought up, which was her family home until 2005. Inspired during the turbulence of last year, when she lost both her father Clinton and brother Rowan, the album is dedicated to them. On a commercial level it may not have mass appeal - none of her previous albums have made the top100 in the UK, so this may follow suit. However, Dore always manages to gain critical plaudits and this will no doubt do so. Her stylish and eclectic range is highlighted by a sumptuous opener Your Lover Called with its urban -jazz fluidity, complete with raspingingly edgy trumpet, through to the free flowing hook-laden Shoeless. Genteel piano lead Looking For..... floats delicately while the mandolin touches put the icing on the cake. Littman shines again as his mandolin dances flirtatiously throughout Someone Other, with Dore's reflective voice reaching a peak of subtle beauty. Putting her foot on the pedal she romps through a lightweight bluegrass styled When Bill Hicks Died.

Elsewhere she excels on a beautiful ballad When I Fall, with her slightly warbled voice harking back to rootsy trad-folk, as she uncertainly sings,

There's got to be something there when we fall.

Possibly the best track, Mr.Williams full of steady eastern-European stylings (Indian harmonium, slide guitar, percussion and double bass ) drifts neatly to the vocal highlight of Another Madeleine, the most basic song of the lot -with Celtic harp, autoharp and Indian harmonium providing a delightful close to a very enjoyable collection.

Verdict? Simple and beautiful.

Elly Roberts