REVIEW FROM www.livingtradition.co.uk

 

 


 

 

 
GIVE WAY - Lost in this Song

GIVE WAY - Lost in this Song
GREENTRAX  CDTRAX332

It is ten years since four young sisters released “Full Steam Ahead” on Greentrax Recordings. Most notable for the fact that they were very young and that it was produced by Phil Cunningham, rather than the musical content. If memory serves me right, it was purely instrumental but had enough about it to promise much. I have to admit that I totally missed the Johnson girls second offering so to say I was shocked with the maturity of “Lost in this Song”. For a start the picture on the cover shows a group of young women out for a night’s fun on the town...where are those innocent young things of their first release?

Then there is the fact that it opens with the  assured vocals of Kirsty on the title track with a couple more songs including a very good version of “The Water is Wide” to close the CD. But for me it is the tune sets which provide the highlight and show how much more mature their playing has become. Fiona plays fiddle, guitar and whistles; Amy keeps things moving on drums and a variety of percussion; Mairi shows a sympathetic touch on keyboards whilst there are some strong accordion led tunes from Amy. Fiona has written a handful of tunes including “Zander the Salamander” with its emotive opening provided by fiddle and keyboards before the tempo is increased by the addition of drums. There is contrast in the next track “Flipperfoot the Mugger” (where does Fiona get her titles from?) which is an excellent accordion led track.

Good playing throughout, well produced by Phil Cunningham, “Lost in this Song” is well worth a listen and should do well, especially if the band continue to play the high profile venues.

Give Way seems an order to some older members of the Scottish music establishment-watch out the Johnson sisters are coming through!

Dave Beeby

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This album was reviewed in Issue 84 of The Living Tradition magazine.