LIPS OF CLAY

Lips of Clay is a collection of traditional British folk melodies treated by Sarah Owen and Nick Janaway in their signature style using lots of samples and effects to give their material a really unexpected spin. I'd say Lips of Clay is their most transparent and accessible album, in the sense that they use the most consistent concept here, and the lovers of beautiful delicate folk have the mostly traditional acoustic guitar and the beautiful and natural voices of the two members to stick to. The selection of the material is just stunning, some of the most haunting and beautiful melodies enriched by a few more earthly and rhythm dominated songs. The singing is flawless, with good use of the harmonic interplay between the male and female singer.

The key question then is how appropriate the listener finds the electronic treatment of the material. There will certainly be the odd purist out there who thinks this is a sin (apart from the people who have no ear for this kind of folk music anyway), but for me this is mostly very tastefully done and as somebody who likes his music with some experiment and surprises, I am much better entertained and enthralled by the creativity that is on display here. Much of this can actually be heard as unsettling undercurrent behind the superficial niceness - the subjects of the songs often evoke such feelings as well so it is actually quite fitting even though they overdo the odd effect (particularly delayed voice) on occasion.

The outstanding numbers here are the hypnotic Milder and Mulder with hints at gothic aesthetic (I'm not talking goth rock here!), the perfect unit between lyrics and music that is Cold Blows the Wind, and Bobbie Allen, another spellbinding melody showcasing the musicality that still dominates the electronic trickery. Not every track is a total winner, but there is enough variety, and overall it is a very good and original album. 3.9 stars.