Ann Scott - Flo
by Andrew Carver
published: 26 / 7 / 2010
Label:
Raghouse Records
Format: CD
intro
Enchanting and offbeat third album from Irish singer-songwriter and experimental folk artist, Ann Scott
Dublin’s Ann Scott is yet another lady in the vein of Marissa Nadler, Sara June and Nina Nastasia - a singer songwriter stretching the world of folk a bit further. Like Nadler, June and Nastasia, her main tools are her brooding, almost fragile voice and fingerpicked guitar. She buttresses them with the sparing use of piano, samples and the occasional use of strings, but for even with additional musicians, her music has a spare and spectral quality. ‘Flo’ - her third album - kicks off with ‘Love Is In Him’which also enjoys the vocal presence of fellow Irish songstress Gemma Hayes and a doleful cello courtesy of Dublin experimental musician Kim Porcelli. ‘Killerman’ with its plunky banjo, insistently strummed guitar, and dangerously charming protagonist could be one of P.J. Harvey’s quieter songs. ‘Return Die’ uses some plonking drum samples (not really the album’s finest moment) and some stately guitar to escort its morose theme to its conclusion. The jauntier ‘Universe’, with its piano intro and more organic drums comes across like a Tears for Fears song stripped of its excess musical baggage. The drifting ‘Loss’ makes good use of what sounds like a thumb piano or music box, with metallic droplets of noise standing in for dripping water. The album isn’t all folk-strum: ‘Candy’, with its electronic noises, swaying bass and thumping drum sounds heavily inspired by Bjork. Scott’s album should enchant anyone who enjoys the work of Nastasia, Nadler, and other female artists willing to step outside folk’s more traditional norms.
Track Listing:-
1 Love Is In Him2 Killerman
3 Return to Die
4 Universe
5 Lost
6 Always
7 Candy
8 Under the Sun
9 Sally
10 Untrue
11 Hangman
12 All Eternity
13 Return to Life
14 Flo
reviews |
We're Smiling (2009) |
Complex but ultimately highly rewarding latest album from talented Dublin-based singer-songwriter, Ann Scott |
most viewed articles
current edition
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #15- On Being Dignified and Old aka Ten Tips From Jah Wobble On How To Be Happy.Dennis Tufano - Copernicus Center, Chicago, 19/7/2024
Elliott Murphy - Interview
Wreckless Eric - Interview
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #16: Living in the Minds of Strangers
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #17: Tom Robinson
Adrian Gurvitz - Interview
Norman Rodger - Interview
Chris Spedding - Interview
Penumbra - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Groovy Uncle - Making ExcusesPhilip Parfitt - The Dark Light
Jules Winchester - The Journey
Deep Purple - =1
Bill Wyman - Drive My Car
Ross Couper Band - The Homeroad
Hawkestrel - Chaos Rocks
John Murry and Michael Timmins - A Little Bit of Grace and Decay
Popstar - Obscene
Splashgirl and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe - More Human
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart