From The Fields - The Carrivick Sisters Album Review

The Carrivick Sisters

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Album Review

There's definitely something in the water, down in Devon - a seemingly never-ending tide of talented and sparky folkies are just pouring themselves all over festivals, selective radio-shows and award-ceremonies. The sweetly-tonsilled twin sisters, the Carrivicks, have already chirruped like larks on three previously-issued CDs, which makes the guitar-strummin', dobro-resonatin', fiddle-wieldin' duo almost experienced, compared to other contemporaries.

"From The Fields" is a mainly positive and fruitful selection of that might irk the misery-purists out there, but gawp at the jolly sleeve picture of the sisters skipping barefoot through the salty sea and you find yourself yearning to be there, sharing an ice-cream, cider and a plate of seafood. Unfortunately, I'll have to stick with daydreaming and play this top album. Again.

Extra musicians have been drafted in to colour in the palette a little bit more, one of them being the mercurial BJ Cole who should really have been knighted for making such a wonderful sound with the pedal-steel for many decades. He appears in his usual understated yet prominent style on two tracks, "You'll Miss Her When You're Gone" and "When the Birds Start To Sing", although to say these songs are better than the jolly opener, "Garden Girl", or the acapella charms of the title-track, is churlish.

The Carrivick Sisters have a slight air of familiarity about their pretty sound - ah yes, that would be the knob-tweaking courtesy of Kate Rusby's brother, Joe. He lends an accomplished balance to the dozen lullabies, that generally tell tales of the Great War, the murderous story of a 19th century Bodmin teenager called Charlotte and sinful trysts in fields. Who said the West Country was boring?

Paul Pledger