One of the best things about music albums are failed predictions. You are anticipating to hear one thing, and you end up enjoying something completely off the hook of your anticipation. It's the life in small. I just realized: music is micro life. So, the following album inspired me to come up with this sentence.
When you consider the circumstances in which this married couple, Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent, have recorded their album, you would expect to encounter domination of easy, acoustic folk numbers with intermittent rock killer. Contrary to the obvious, the first song I Know has so many similarities with T-Rex glam sound, it will instantly force you to put your best dress on and start jumping around the room. The following, murder ballad Botched Execution goes to the other extreme of the continuum, to the frenzy amalgamation of The Singing Loins and White Stripes. With third number St.Anne's Parade, the tempo changes and Shovel and Ropes reveal the eclecticism of their arsenal in this melancholic-acoustic ballade.
The rest of the album fluctuates between cheerfully messy Buffalo Nickel and Invisible Man, over folk rock classic The Last Hawk to touching Missionary Road and Mourning Song. The one that stands out with its theme and minimalistic approach is BWYR, a track created as a reaction to the murder in Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal church. It is also a social commentary on the general condition of the world and all of the racial and economic tensions.
By getting closer to each other in their private life, Hearst and Trent managed to observe the world more precisely and to show the result of their observation without being afraid of experimentation. This is a strong Americana album, probably the best in Shovels and Rope catalogue. They have a lot of potential. Unfortunately, they don't know how to realize it fully. For a more intimate window into their world, watch The Ballade of Shovels and Rope (2014).
