Ward Thomas - Music in the Madness

by Zena Grieg

published: 26 / 5 / 2023

Label: WTW Music
Format: CD

Melodic and ultimately uplifting fifth album from Hampshire country-pop twin sister duo Ward Thomas

Review

Hampshire country-pop twin sister duo Lizzie and Catherine Ward Thomas, aged 29, have brought out a new record, their fifth. Produced by Ed Harcourt and recorded with their long-standing live band, ‘Music In The Madness’ is a melodious collection of catchy choruses, sensitive lyrics and cleverly-used synths, at its heart the perennial themes of love, family and the healing power of music. It is an album in which they wanted to “go back to our roots…a bit more country.” Songs to listen out for in this twelve-track collection include: the opening title track, inspired by the resilience of the Ukrainian people, with its defiant vocals: “Let’s talk about the peace and the chaos/Deep within your soul/Always giving hope in broken times…./Dream is holding fast to what is right/Let’s talk about freedom and fear/and the clarity it gives you on your values/How you live before you die”; the country pop love song ‘Next To You’; the traditional country track ‘Justice And Mercy’ a “fun story song about a wrong ‘un who ruins lives on his travels and meets a sticky end….set in the 20s Western States, although we partly based the psychopath on Putin”; a competent cover of Razorlight’s ‘America’; the acerbic ‘I Think I Hate You’ with its bitter lines: “If we never met again, it would be too soon”; the gentle folk-pop ‘Unravel’ on the importance of good mental health and being open about how you feel; and the final, plaintive track ‘Flower Crowns’ referencing the sisters’ growing up together and becoming older, with the resultant changes in their relationship. “Music In The Madness” is a harmonious, uplifting album that Ward Thomas will be playing on their forthcoming UK tour.

Track Listing:-

1 Music In The Madness
2 Next To You
3 All Over Again
4 If It All Ends Today
5 Justice & Mercy
6 America
7 Love Does
8 Joan Of Arc
9 I Think I Hate You
10 Unravel
11 Loved By You
12 Flower Crowns