Hear It First – The Good Lovelies, ‘Burn the Plan’
(**The Good Lovelies will self-release thier new album, ‘Burn the Plan’ next week. Until then, you can listen to the complete album in the player below!)
Every now and again, you just need to shake things up. Take a new job, try a new hobby, learn a new skill – do whatever you have to do to remind yourself that life is happening NOW and that we need to enjoy every moment of it. In other words, you need to burn the plan. When’s the last time YOU did that?
If it’s been awhile, take a page from the Canadian trio The Good Lovelies’ book. Their new recording (appropriately titled ‘Burn the Plan’) not only burns the plan, it builds something new – and rather extraordinary – from the papery remains.
8 years ago, friends Caroline Brooks, Kerri Ough and Sue Passmore decided to start making music together. They must have known they had something special – harmonies that hearken back to a golden era of music, a time when female singers walked onto the stage in petticoat-stiffened dresses with hairdos up to there. That’s really where you’ll find the trio’s bread and butter – with their three very different voices, voices that just happen to blend rather marvelously together, in that magical way of music.
And it’s those voices that, once again, take center stage on the new recording. This time, though, the voices are joined not just by guitar, mandolin, piano and dobro, but also by a drum machine and other elements of good old-fashioned electronica. Yes, the careful musicianship is still there. Yes, the trio takes turns in the lead and follow vocal roles. But no, this is not your average folk trio. The Good Lovelies push boundaries with ‘Burn the Plan’ – which is, after all, part of the burning the plan…plan.
I will admit – the stand out track for me on the album is the one that sounds the most like a traditional contemporary folk trio. Track 9, “Four O’Clock,” is a poignant reminder that life is short. Anyone who has experienced any kind of loss – well, just go ahead and grab the tissues. Before we reach the point of crying, though, the Lovelies do their part to make you smile and dance with non-stop energy. So much energy, and with so much drum machine, in fact, that when things slow down a bit for the songs “Last Night” and “When the City Settles,” it’s a relief.
All three of the Lovelies are in fine voice on ‘Burn the Plan.’ And while it’s clear that there’s a comfort amongst them, a sense of ease that comes from years of singing together, there’s also a new edginess that seems to foreshadow what the trio might yet do in the future. Whatever that may be (and if we go by what they’re doing with THIS new release), well, it’s bound to be worth a listen.
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‘Burn the Plan’ will be released on May 26th and is available for pre-order – HERE.
