BLACK PRAIRIE - Fortune

Kategorie: CD-Reviews | Genre: Folk/Folkrock | Heft: Jahrgang 2014, eclipsed Nr. 161 / 6-2014 | VÖ-Jahr: 2014 | Wertung: 8/10 | Label: Caroline | Autor: WK


The great Decemberists were gone for far too long, but Black Prairie comfort us temporarily over this vacancy. Four members of this group form the backbone of Black Prairie, first and foremost the distinctive singer and accordionist Jenny Conlee. Even violinist Annalisa Tornfeldt was a guest at the Decabrists. In other words, Black Prairie are the Decemberists without their frontman Colin Meloy. The sound is correspondingly similar, especially since Conlee also played a leading role as a singer for the Decemberists. The songs on the new CD are perhaps a bit less ambiguous and hanging out than before, the dissonant nuances are also missing, but their good-humoured folk rock mix extends from bluegrass waltzes and Appalachian polkas to asymmetric Balkan folk to tango and klezmer borrowings. With this CD the band from Portland, Oregon should finally and rightly step out of the shadow of Colin Meloy's successful band. What this means for the Decemberists, we will see on their next album.

Top Track: Let Me Know Your Heart

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