MARRY WATERSON AND DAVID A. JAYCOCK - Two Wolves

From their far-off 1965 debut (the excellent "Frost And Fire") to today, the story of the Watersons has taken on the character of a genuine musical saga: their lineage has brought lustre to English folk, remaining attentive to both pagan and religious tradition. Led by matriarch Norma, the Waterson family boasts at least a trio of masterpieces ("Bright Phoebus" above all), as well as important collaborations (Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, Richard & Linda Thompson etc.), and the story seems far from over. After Eliza Carthy – born of the marriage between Norma Waterson and Martin Carthy – the daughter of Lal Waterson (who passed away in 1998) now also adds a significant chapter to the family's discography with her third album "Two Wolves".

Having dissolved her partnership with brother Oliver Knight, the artist finally puts to good use all the experience built up since her debut (1977: a guest on Lal and Norma Waterson's project "A True Hearted Girl"), reconciling her vocal versatility with a broader sonic spectrum in which pop, jazz and 60s psychedelia converge without altering her stylistic path.

The new travel companion is David A. Jaycok, a guitarist of rare technical calibre, skilled in fingerpicking and an excellent craftsman of psychedelic atmospheres in the style of Syd Barrett or the Beatles. Kate St John, Kami Thompson (The Rails), Michael Tanner (Plinth), Alison Cotton (Saloon), Simon Edwards (Fairground Attraction) and Emma Black (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) round out the cast on “Two Wolves”, produced by the experienced Neil MacColl.

The chemistry between Marry and David is the real keystone of the project. Waterson's abstract, ethereal poetry merges with Jaycok's brooding melancholy, giving rise to a unique and disorienting music in which the pastoral folk dimension takes on mysterious, magical hues. The delicate, fragile “The Honey & The Seaweed” and the a cappella folk of “Ginger Brown & Apple Green” represent the link to the past and folk tradition, while the refined “Emotional Vampire”, with its pleasing baroque-folk blend of guitar, voice and piano, opens up new frontiers for Marry.

“Two Wolves” is an album rich in rare flashes of inspiration, such as the fascinating contrast between double bass and Mike Waterson's sampled voice on “Velvet Yeller”, or the fragile, crystalline two-voice singing of “Mockingbird”, which settles over banjo notes and pizzicato strings; but it's the title track that is the album's true creative centre of gravity, with its series of minor and major chords weaving together into a magical, ethereal psychedelic folk, made all the more enigmatic by synth sounds and acoustic guitars.

The music of David A. Jaycock and Marry Waterson is striking not only for its technical excellence, but also for the courage and risk-taking that remains palpable in every track, even when you might think you're dealing with just another folk-blues number (“Brighter Thinking”) or a merely superfluous instrumental rereading of the album's opening track (“Sing Me Into Your Time Reprise”).

While the crystalline, vaporous “Digging For Diamonds” and “Woolgathering Girl” evoke the ambitious sounds of Linda Perhacs's “Parallelograms”, Linda Perhacs, the bluesy touch of “Caught On The Coattails” and the introverted, spiritual melancholy of “Hoping To Be Saved” brush up against the multifaceted chromaticism of Joni Mitchell, rounding out an enchanting and original neo-folk puzzle.

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15/02/2016