SINGER / SONGWRITER
ZACHARY CALE - BLUE RIDER
(LP * JellyFant 2013 - cat# jayf 18) * file under Folk
Unfeeling / Dollar Day / Hold Fast / Dear Shadow / Blood Rushes On / Hangman Letters / Wayward Son / Noise Of Welcome
On singer-songwriter Zachary Cale's fourth album, Blue Rider, you're forcefully reminded that acoustic solo music is only as simple as you make it. It's a misty, gorgeous collection, offering a space that feels wonderful to roam around in.
ALLYSEN CALLERY - MUMBLIN´ SUE
(LP * JellyFant 2013 - cat# jayf 19) * file under Folk
In Your Hollow / I Had A Lover I Thought Was My Own / Spare Parts / Lilly Of The Valley / Highway Gone / My Carolina / Long Black Veil / In The Ring / Your Minnesota Sunrise / Your Skin Does Not Lie
We’ve been following the self-taught guitarist from Rhode Island and her, as she says, “quiet music for a loud world” for a while now. Unlike her earlier recordings, the cover of her fifth release Mumblin’ Sue shows neither a photograph nor a collage but an illustration. A skull with winged eyes and red roses in ink and marker. By no less than William Schaff, who has made sinister and intriguing covers with wonderfully weird characters for Okkervil River. About Mumblin’ Sue, he tweeted: “The talented and wonderful Allysen Callery has been kind enough to pick me to do the artwork.” Considering Callery’s combination of complex finger picking and tender vocals, the cover may seem surprising at first and possibly raise expectations of heavier, punk-inspired songs. However, it does suit the dark fairytale aspects of Callery’s writing, which have previously earned her praise as “the Tim Burton of Folk Music”. And Mumblin’ Sue certainly sounds like a character who would be at home in this kind of imagery. Or does the title not signify a character, does it describe someone mumbling Sue’s name? It’s a question that the album won’t answer. Instead, the songs add mysteries of their own.
ALLYSEN CALLERY - WINTER ISLAND / THE SUMMER PLACE
(LP * JellyFant 2012 - cat# jayf 16) * file under Folk
Winter Island: Winter Island / Snow Pony / Young Edwin / Highwire / Favourite Son / One Eyed Cat / Muse Me
The Summer Place: Honeymoon / See The Sea / The Huntsman / Sakonnet / Little Bird That Is Your Name / Lyonesse / Mockingbird & Whippoorwill
"Allysen Callery’s Winter Island/The Summer Place is being released as a limited edition vinyl release on Jellyfant. The album features Allysen’s two EPs Winter Island and The Summer Place originally released as separate CDs on Nuremberg based Woodland Recordings in 2011 and 2012.
The album is distinct with seasonal identities, opening with a series of frozen images depicted in Winter Island as she explores her kinship with the gentle howl of a winter’s wind, as the listener is enfolded within the cool richness of her voice. Callery describes herself as quiet music for a loud world, and here there is a tremendous amount to be embraced from her delicately hushed portrayal.
Allysen Callery offers an album whose juxtaposition of character forms a harmony, leaving the listener spell bound and pleasantly haunted with a diverse set of timeless memories."
