Apple Of
My Eye – Devils (Pear O’ Legs
Records)
Apple Of My Eye’s debut “Devils” arrives housed in a
fetching digipak cover, of which the group is rightly proud, and I would think
they’re just as pleased with its contents. The London seven-piece has an approach
to English folk music that’s hardly unique, but it’s exhilarating, nonetheless.
For all their instrumentation, they keep their music reasonably frugal, relying
instead on the interplay between vocalists Arran Glass and Ellie Rusbridge. And
of course, the original songs provide the central core around which everything
else revolves.
Likenesses are tricky, though Rusbridge occasionally
has a hint of Joanna Newsom to her delivery, but it’s to ‘70s folk rockers such
as Mr. Fox that comparisons seem the most appropriate, though it’s purely
abstract.
“Jenny” sounds like it was written a couple hundred
years ago, it’s the sort of shadowy folk epic – though less than three minutes
long - where we’re on tenterhooks waiting for the ravishing and murder to start.
The title track is steeped in biblical imagery and the group’s playing is dark
and moody, and reflects the lyrical depths. They end with the positively upbeat
“Fiddle Song”, that is until you really listen to the words, though after its
predecessor “Sad Trevor Weeps” little excuse is required for a knees up.
Tony S.
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