A musical Mr Benn!
Whilst I am currently riding high on the wave of folk that appears to have engulfed me, I find this EP from Canadian singer/songwriter Basia Bulat, and what the hell, I think, let’s give it a go!
I’m not sure exactly what I am expecting, maybe some hybrid of Joni Mitchell, Jean Ritchie and Suzanne Vega, however what I actually get is not three slow-tempo and earthy tracks, with just a guitar and a wobbling voice that reminds you a little too much of beatings from your old Nan, no, these are three very different, and dare I say slightly timeless tracks.
The first song, ‘In The Night’ has a marching beat drum snare by way of Basia’s brother Bobby, and we also have a ukulele, that I think sounds slightly more like a mandolin, than the Hawaiian instrument, and a piano that gives us the main melody. It’s a mid-tempo song that comes across a little like Julie Fowlis if she sung in English, nice inoffensive Folk.
The surprise is more in the next two songs. ‘Before I Knew’ sounds less Folk and a lot more Motown, sounding like something The Supremes, Gladys Knight And The Pips, and Teena Marie might have come out with in a smoky club of the ‘60’s. The last song is a cover of Sam Cooke’s ecclesiastically-influenced number, ‘Touch The Hem Of His Garment’, a song that allegedly was written on the way to the recording studio, when Sam wasn’t completely prepared and so the legend has it, grabbed a Bible, read this story of how you didn’t have to touch Jesus, just something that is touching him, and suddenly he had written this song! This is a part Gospel, part Soul song, sounding like a well polished and well-produced version of the 1956 original.
So what we actually have is not so much a Folk album, but a slice of three decades of music, 1950’s Soul, 1960’s Motown and 1970’s Folk. There is no doubting that the beautifully named Basia Bulat is a good singer, proving that she can sing a number of styles, but I also wonder whether this is one for the quiet kids at college, or the ones who are a little free-spirited. I don’t see this breaking into the main stream, but it’s good harmless fun anyway!