a r t i s t : The Battle of Land and Sea
t i t l e : The Battle of Land and Sea
d a t e : 2008
l a b e l : Notenuf Records
c a t : ntnf008
s o u r c e : CDDA
g e n r e : Folk
r l s. d a t e : Feb/2008
t r a c k s : 08
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 42,4 MB
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Of all the geographical features to inspire music, the ocean
must be largely concurrent with good music. From Dirty Three
with Ocean Songs, and now to The Battle of Land and Sea - the
ocean is rendered beautifully in musical form. On their debut
album, the aptly named duo delves into a set of delicate,
sea-inspired folk songs that fits neatly between the voice of
Cat Power and the guitar work of Mazzy Star.
Sarah O'Shura, the chief songwriter in the American duo,
paints a mysterious figure. Her voice is intimately quiet; her
lyrics weaved by stories of her past. The verses drip with
dark melancholy, somewhat out of place on a record imbued with
summery guitar tones. You'll only notice its dark undercurrent
if you're paying close attention though, and it's evidence of
the dreaminess on The Battle of Land and SeaÆs debut that the
tracks segue into one another with little fanfare. It's an
easy, pleasing listen that confines itself to whispers and
hushes. Sometimes it's a little too quiet - the softened tones
and quiet finger-picking on album closer "You Are A Sailor"
wash over with very little effect. Those with low attention
spans won't find much to enjoy in this record.
The many facets of this record may be marked by darker themes,
but ignore its lyrical content and you'd never know. There's
nothing gloomy about "Saltwater Queen" - a song that sounds
made for perfect sunny days at the coast, and the warm,
endless summer nights. The echoed slide guitar that sidelines
this and most of the other tracks on this record lifts it from
being just another American folk album - it's an amazing
inclusion that gives the album its musical ingenuity and gives
Sarah's story its paper to write on.
I can imagine finding this record abandoned in some charity
shop, a 50p relic in an array of other forgotten 60s folk
albums. Modern production aside, it would be easy to believe
that this was recorded 40 years ago - such is its non-reliance
on modern musical trends. It's also easy to imagine the duo
wrote the album while stranded on a lonely island off the
coast of America, with only their guitars and their memories
for company. The result: an album of blissful folk music and
mysterious lyrical lamentations; an album, then, truly worthy
of the tape it's been recorded on.
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01-Saltwater Queen [03:26]
02-Birdsong [03:05]
03-The Beautiful Ones [03:44]
04-Harden My Heart [04:02]
05-Six Days [03:32]
06-I Built the Sea [05:16]
07-Lady [04:23]
08-You Are A Sailor [05:05]
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32:33 min