‘High Town Crow EP’ Out Now via Ubiquity Project Records
“It’s a rare West Country husband-and-wife duo that can pull off the knack of sounding simultaneously like a vintage Louisiana jug band and at the same time very much like themselves.” – Tom Robinson BBC 6Music
“They began performing together three years ago – a decision that appears to be paying rich dividends from the evidence of this glorious slice of alt-country” – For Folk’s Sake
“Stripped down roots-inspired music that stylistically has its core in folk and country, but it’s sights set a little further afield also” – Americana UK
High Town Crow is the new EP from self-proclaimed ‘backwards country porch-folk’ husband and wife duo Martin and Kerraleigh Child AKA The August List.
Hailing from Dorset and now residing in Oxfordshire, the new EP was released via Reading based label/collective Ubiquity Project Records on October 26th 2013.
A couple since 2005, it was another five years into their relationship before they started writing and performing music together. Taking their cue from neo-traditionalists such as The White Stripes and Holly Golightly they built around the bare bones of their songs with just the two of them, with acoustic guitar, voice, harmonica and foot percussion.
Their debut EP, Handsome Skin, captured their rootsy and ragged sound, from the blues stomp of “Forty-Rod of Lightnin” to the punky thrash of “Death Penalty” and the closing “Homeland” with its mournful pedal steel guitar and softer, longing tone to Kerraleigh’s voice.
High Town Crow focuses more intently on a particular mood, a sound and a space. Taking its cue from where the last EP left off, the new work builds on their more introspective folk side: “the songs we have been writing since Handsome Skin have been less frenetic but more intense perhaps.”
The August List – “All To Break” video:
The tracks were again recorded across Silver Street Studios in Reading and The Ladder Factory Studios in Swindon, with Graeme Rawson and George Rowe respectively. Opening with “All To Break” we are once more confronted with Kerraleigh’s battle-ready vocal, rich in the authentic twangs and yelps of Emmylou Harris et al. Yet this time around there is a restraint in her delivery, the gentle percussion drawing the listener in closer.
The loping, reverb-drenched “Blood Harmony” follows, almost calling to mind Jenny Lewis covering The Jesus & Mary Chain! “A Song For Any State” with lead vocals by Martin proves their most poignant moment before the gloriously stormy narrative of the title-track builds towards a satisfying, foot-stomping finale, made all the more powerful for having us wait.
The August List bring together the modern day alt-country of Wilco, The Felice Brothers and The Handsome Family with a love and respect for the best of the old guard, the Dylans and the Youngs, returning the genre to its former heart and soul.
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