Gregory and the Hawk - Leche

If Kate Bush had released 'Leche' this month instead of New York’s Meredith Godreau under her pseudonym of Gregory and the Hawk, this would not only be a multi million seller but easily be regarded amongst her best work along side The Dreaming and Hounds Of Love. So good in fact is Leche that I would easily consider it to be one of my albums of the year. Only on the straight ahead finale of the piano led 'Dream Machine' do you think Meredith could have injected the same sort of vitality as she did on the rest of the record and yet still it's nothing short of one of the most enchanting ballads you'll hear this year. She steals the chorus straight from the Cutting Crew's biggest hit on 'Pullers Return' and then whistles her way to it’s conclusion. The drum pattern present in 'Olly Olly Oxen Free' should ruin the otherwise beautiful melody and cutesy chorus and yet the song would fall apart without it and as for the Chinese harp that is utilised as the backbone for 'Geysir Nationale' with it’s flood of orchestration arriving at the half way point. Well, that has been tried and tested before by the equally addictive Joanna Newsom. Yet the songs on Leche are not meant for the highbrow listener. This is music that anyone can get something out of, from the man bag toting hipster chinstroakers standing against the walls at half filled Camden bars to the Arena packing fans of Pink and Lady Ga Ga there is something wholly original amongst all the familiarity on display here. I just can not for the life of me put my finger on it. Gregory and tThe Hawk has had a traditional growth, from bedroom recording to recently finding herself on Fat Cat and touring the world. I can only hope that when others hear the spine tingling third track in 'Over and Over' they react in the same way I did and make this underground phenomenon the overground success it deservers to be.

Track Listing:-

1 For The Best
2 Landscapes
3 Over And Over
4 Soulgazing
5 Geysir Nationale
6 Frebeight
7 Olly Olly Oxen Free
8 A Century Is All We Need
9 Leaves
10 Puller Return
11 Hard To Define
12 Dream Machine

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