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Since her departure from the adorably twee Belle and
Sebastian, Isobel Campbell has been working hard to define
herself apart from her former group; though if the first
sentence of this review is any indication, she hasn't yet
escaped their long shadow. Her most well-received solo
endeavor, actually a joint-work with former Screaming Trees
leader Mark Lanegan, seemed to have the strength to do just
that. Ballad of Broken Seas was a dusty,
ramshackle meeting of the minds that found favor with fans
and critics alike, earning Campbell and Lanegan a Mercury
Prize nomination. Skeptical talk focused on the nature of the
collaboration, whether the record bore the stamp of the gruff
and bluesy American Lanegan, rather than the airy, ethereal
Scotch Campbell. Campbell's new album, Milkwhite
Sheets, is a true showcase of her abilities. While it is far
from a complete disaster, it may fuel suspicions that Campbell
works best within the confines of a group setting, and when left
to her own devices, gets lost in the wispy, pastoral scenes that
she enjoys.
Milkwhite Sheets is a record of stark folk in the
tradition of female singer-songwriters like Shirley Collins or
Jean Richie, true roots folk music that eschews affect or
flourish, instead relying on the presence of the singer, the
history of the music, and the power of quiet, personal
performance. Unfortunately, Campbell has difficulty sustaining
the necessary strength to grasp the light and immaterial
strands of song from the ether and bind them into something
substantial; instead, Milkwhite Sheets seems to
float just out of reach, never settling down to the clay earth or
digging in with any real tangible feeling. She fares well on
traditional arrangements like the opening track, "O Love is
Teasin'" or "Loving Hannah," where Campbell at least has some
kind of path to follow. The latter track is an acapella that
makes perhaps the best use of Campbell's slight voice, which is
one of the biggest issues of Milkwhite Sheets.
Even with the sparse instrumentation of acoustic guitars and
cello, Campbell's voice seems dominated by the already subtle
music.
Of her original compositions, "Cachel Wood" stands out as
particularly impressive, loping along a nursery-rhyme
melody that instantly grabs the attention, evoking imagery
of rolling green hills and running through breezy forest
glades. Milkwhite Sheets may be difficult to
approach in a single sitting, as the music all lays within the
same thin band of the folk spectrum, and too often seems
more milquetoast than milkwhite, with only faint hints of
personality or grace left to cling to in the hopes of future
pleasures. |
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