Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The Devil may always take his due but the music will always belong to a higher authority when it comes to the muse and the sound of the joy that comes from within, The Angel’s Share will always be one that gets the most attention.
The allusion to the title may be down to the aging of the creative golden spirit of Whisky, the angel share being what is lost in the evaporation of the distilled and imaginative wonder, but there is nothing lost in value or beauty when it comes to Dana and Susan Robinson’s The Angel’s Share. The duo’s light touch, the meaningful lyrics and the sharp observances all gather in the album as if the angels had been given a free pass to run a free of subscription based channel and had used it to shape humanity’s understanding of the Universe; The Angel’s Share is only ever filled with what can be spared and disclosed after all.
Dana and Susan Robinson’s messages, moments of hope and inspiration, are to be taken to heart, the soft glide of the music acting as a conduit that aches with both the devilish pain of humanity’s feverish glee but also hands over the chance of redemption, of peaceful solitude in the fires; it is the angel’s share of the distilled whisky that stops the song from being anything other than the moment of refined joy.
It is rare to come across such gentleness, such tenderness in a whole album without it feeling as if a sugar refinery has been exposed to the elements and the entire silo has blown over everybody’s lungs and distorted faces. It is rare but not unwelcome, it is hugely beneficial to the soul to hear the music and as such it resonates more each time you hear the album.
In songs such as Going North, John Muir’s Walking Blues, Man of Constant Sorrow, Allene’s Waltz and Ashville Blues, the music is tempting, the Devil in the corner may lick his lips but the Angel that keeps guard over the muse and the music has all but sipped with a soft and mellow smile upon its face its share, only leaving the listener all that is tremendous about the album.
A share that reveals much, a share that revels in the spirit of the song writer and one that can be ordered again and again.
Ian D. Hall