ONLINHERE
Kate Burke and Ruth Hazleton
DECLARATION
★★★½
This ultimately beguiling album begins with a song that might have appeared on Laura Jean's last record: slow, intimately sung, sad without labouring the point, small horizons but very Australian. Don't be fooled though, as soon enough they're in older folk territory with the lamentable tale of Katy Cruel and the quasi-medieval feel of Queen of Hearts (dreamier than the version most recently done by the Unthanks). We quickly settle into areas more traditional than Laura Jean. That said, while British and American folk traditionals dominate this album from Australians Kate Burke and Ruth Hazleton – they contribute one original each, and three more contemporary songs appear including a Dylan cover – there's a freshness to their often measured interpretations. That's partly due to the way their voices entwine easily, old and modern at once, and also because there is always air around the banjo and acoustic guitar, which do the bulk of the work. Declaration is not trying to be new but succeeds at being renewed.
BERNARD ZUEL
E LINK Kate Burke and Ruth Hazleton
DECLARATION
★★★½
This ultimately beguiling album begins with a song that might have appeared on Laura Jean's last record: slow, intimately sung, sad without labouring the point, small horizons but very Australian. Don't be fooled though, as soon enough they're in older folk territory with the lamentable tale of Katy Cruel and the quasi-medieval feel of Queen of Hearts (dreamier than the version most recently done by the Unthanks). We quickly settle into areas more traditional than Laura Jean. That said, while British and American folk traditionals dominate this album from Australians Kate Burke and Ruth Hazleton – they contribute one original each, and three more contemporary songs appear including a Dylan cover – there's a freshness to their often measured interpretations. That's partly due to the way their voices entwine easily, old and modern at once, and also because there is always air around the banjo and acoustic guitar, which do the bulk of the work. Declaration is not trying to be new but succeeds at being renewed.
BERNARD ZUEL