Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo - Dear River - Acoustic
Masterminded by Calum Malcolm, producer of Blue Nile fame, this release sees the UK based Australian singer throwing off the shackles of the folk miasma and exploring new ground. With a curiously topical theme of human displacement and emigration, Emily asks on 'A Spadeful of [Ground]', 'Would you sail over seas, nearly drown?' As the set gets underway, the Red Clay Halo [girls] add sensitive paired back support...there's no doubting the compelling beauty of her voice. An album of contrasts, there's a hint of Daniel Lanois on the languid 'Sleeping Horses', and the loping shuffle and distrorted guitar break of 'Ghost Narrative' recalls Niel Young's finest hours.