Sharron Kraus - Songs of Love and Loss
(Camera Obscura)
Fellow Oxfordite Sharron Kraus' sophomore effort for Camera Obscura continues in the marvelous traditional folk style of her Beautiful Twisted debut, oozing remnants of the Fairports, Steeleyes, and Pentangle. With a banjo on her knee, Kraus imbues the opening medley "Gallows Song/Gallows Hill" with the traditional air of a fairground. Welcome additions to the repertoire include Jane Griffiths' fiddle and Jon Fletcher's down-home, back-porch drawling harmonica interludes on "The Frozen Lake." Donovan covered Buffy Sainte-Marie on the title track of his debut EP, Universal Soldier. Kraus turns the tables on "Song and Dance of the Bees," an admittedly difficult but rewarding listen that gives an indication of what it might have sounded like had Buffy ever returned the favor.
Kraus' gorgeously crystalline voice, perhaps one of the clearest, sweetest, and most lilting instruments in the current female folk canon, highlights the banjo-driven "The Pale Prisoner," which is also a pretty nifty medieval murder ballad. If the gypsy violin wailing of "Impasse" doesn't bring a tear to your eye, then aren't you just a cold-hearted emotionless bastard! The rest of us can just sit back and enjoy this heartbreaking tale, which recalls Mary Hopkin at her weepiest. I also enjoyed the much-needed lift to the overall dour proceedings that the oom-pah-pah of an accordion gives to "Song of the Hanged Man" and the bright and bouncy, cleverly titled murder ballad "Murder of Crows," which reminded me (favorably and musically) of Siouxsie Sioux's interpretation of Iggy Pop's "The Passenger."
Overall, Songs of Love and Loss is another memorable offering—particularly for fans of that angelic triumvirate of British foxy, folky femme fatales, Sandy Denny, Jacqui McShee, and Maddy Prior—from Kraus and from this fine Australian imprint, both of whom continue to impress with each successive release.
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