Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
It might be considered an old cliché, but if the epithet fits, then who, as listeners, fans, and lovers of the influence that is encompassed within the world of Folk, can argue; for seventh Heaven is the place where The Carrivick Sisters take you as they conduct and pen a voyage of 12 original tracks and a dawning that Illustrated Short Stories is the means of transportationin which to feel your soul soar.
The richness of the sound that Laura and Charlotte produce in their seventh studio album, Illustrated Short Stories is conveyed and appreciated by the fact that this is a set of songs that captures the drama of their own mind, that they have forgone the feeling of wonderful expanse, and seized instead the pursuit of intimate fierceness, one that is shrouded in the duo’s vocal and performing beauty.
To be in tandem, to feel the sense of empathy of another human being is a privilege that many underestimate, or at best devolve as a sign of cooperation forced into being…but when it is innate, when it is lived in the moment as form of expression, especially between family members, then being in synch is a responsibility mastered.
The album, the first one from the studio since 2013, is a reminder that harmony is not a proposition, it is a right and even in the album’s darker tones, that harmony conquers all before it.
It is in the inspiration to be found in the West Country, the place of tales and legends, of writers born with ink in their veins and warmth of yarns and sagas spilling out onto the page, that the twin musicians embrace the ideas for their latest album, and right from the off the spirit of the west country, of old Wessex, is highlighted as In The Odstock Churchyard, a track that conjures up the images to come.
With songs such as 1912 House, Crying To The Moon, the superb Sally In The Woods, Amsterdam, and the album’s immensely pleasing closure of Digging Up The Rosebush all contributing to the texture and tone of the recording, it is with that sense of honour that the Carrivick sisters offer the listener a truth of performance; that it doesn’t matter if you part of a group, a duo who share blood and memories, or just the single, solitary performer writing away in a room of their own, what matters is sincerity of the pursuit of the craft; for life, as in art, is nothing without honesty
An album drawn from experience; Illustrated Short Stories demonstrates illumination of spirit.
Ian D. Hall