August List - O Hinterland

by Malcolm Carter

published: 2 / 10 / 2014

Label: Ubiquity Project Records
Format: CD

Exceptional Americana on second album from Oxfordshire-based husband-and-wife duo, the August List

Review

After releasing two four-track EPs Oxfordshire-based husband and wife duo the August List finally issue their debut full-length album. There is a slight overlapping of songs; ‘Forty-Rod Of Lightnin’, from their debut EP ‘Handsome Skin’, rightly makes a showing along with ‘High Town Crow’ and ‘All to Break’ from the duo’s second EP, also named ‘High Town Crow’. While that takes the tally of new songs down from eleven to eight on the album, the songs that are duplicated from those EPs have been selected for a reason; they are simply to good to pass on and the fact that ‘All to Break’ is one of the songs the duo felt deserved a second chance is fully justified. Since its inclusion as lead song on ‘High Town Crow’, the song has been a personal favourite around these parts. To say that ‘O Hinterland’ is an extension of those EPs is, although true, not really the whole story. Over the course of two EPs the duo displayed their own take on gothic-laced Americana but there was a lot more going on than that, or any description of this twistedly beautiful music could convey. The August List is the name chosen by Kerraleigh and Martin Child that they borrowed from a Willard Grant Conspiracy song title, which is quite telling when describing where the duo are coming from musically. Both their EPs were very well received not just by this magazine but also by anyone that heard the duo’s unique take on Americana. The album opens with ‘Wooden Trunk Blues’, and immediately the blues-infused stomp of ‘Forty-Rod Of Lightnin’ is recalled. Kerraleigh’s talent for switching from tenderness to sassy in the space of one song is expanded upon; here Kerraleigh goes from a childish innocence in her vocals to a wail that will raise the hair on your neck in the space of one line. It’s an outstanding vocal performance; to capture such a range in the confines of one song is difficult, to do so within one line is exceptional. This is the beauty of the August List; while there is no shortage of male/female duos about there are few, if any who are walking the same path as Kerraleigh and Martin. While the sounds they produce has roots in century-old music, it’s the vocals that will gain the duo the most attention. Martin plays no second fiddle to Kerraleigh vocally. While it’s Kerraleigh’s vocal interjections that initially make the second cut, ‘Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow’ so appealing, it can’t be denied that Martin, who takes the lead on this song, is ideally suited vocally to this foot-stomping mixture of blues drenched Americana. ‘Cut Yr Teeth’, while not forsaking their almost trademark foot-stomping music totally, finds the duo expanding their sound in many ways. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly why but there’s a fuller sound on this particular track while in reality there are probably no more instruments used. Kerraleigh’s harmonica vies with her vocals for your attention, and once again her vocals fascinate; a certain vulnerability suddenly transforms into a yelp without sounding strange or forced for one second. ‘The Ticking of the Clock’ is the first indication of the August List slowing things down a little on this album. The distant banjo adds an eerie shade to Martin’s weary lead vocal, the song, especially when Kerraleigh’s haunting background vocals arrive in the second verse, is a soundscape of the kind that the August List excel at. It’s an affecting piece of music and will appeal even to those who don’t usually appreciate music that has its roots in alt.country/Americana. Can anyone honestly say that when Kerraleigh takes over the lead in a verse in this song that they are not genuinely moved by her voice? ‘Radiator Song’ is a strange track. Kerraleigh’s vocals sound distant and her voice unusually reduced to a whisper. It draws the listener in just by being so different, and while it’s not necessarily a place you’d go willingly into such is the effect of Kerraleigh’s vocal that you find yourself returning again and again anyway. There are highlights aplenty scattered through these songs, although there are only eight songs that are unfamiliar there are enough twists and turns to keep even the most casual admirer of the August List’s EPs satisfied. With such strong songs as ‘Long Division’ and ‘Red Light on the Tower’, where the duo leave behind the foot-stomping sound that initially impressed us so much on the EPs and take a more refined yet still emotional stance, ‘O Hinterland’ shows the depth, vision and progression the duo have made in such a short space of time. With those two EPs we knew they were special…we just didn’t realise just how special until this album came along.

Track Listing:-

1 Wooden Trunk Blues
2 Snake in the Eagle's Shadow
3 Cut Yr Teeth
4 The Ticking of the Clock
5 High Town Crow
6 Radiator Song
7 Long Division
8 Red Light On the Tower
9 All to Break
10 Forty-Rod of Lightnin'
11 Cabin Fever