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It's always odd when a band self-titles an album well into their career. It often indicates a watering down or mainstreaming of the band's sound (Heart, anyone?). Let me reassure fans of Fern Knight: there is nothing diluted about their third full length, despite being an eponymous release.
Fern Knight is lead by singer/guitarist/cellist Margie Wienk. I think that she's joined by Jim Ayre on guitar and drums, Jesse Sparhawk on harp and James Wolf on violin... but the copy sent to me doesn't include that information so I apologize if there's been a change in the line up. Each musician on this recording is very talented and plays with a striking beauty and clarity.
Combined these artists create a magical artifact harkening back to the sun-dappled 60s. Fern Knight mix neo-renaissance and medieval folk with restrained, almost implied, psychedelic guitar. You can hear the ghosts of both Fairport Convention and King Crimson on this CD, and that's a great thing.
Wienk's vocals are soft, almost delicate, and find a nice foil in the slightly distorted guitar bits. But nothing these songs never come roaring at you, this is not a "rock" album. What you hear is restrained, compassionate, almost loving. These are songs to stroll through a garden at twlight by. The psychedelic elements give this album a dusky undercurrent, but it's still not dark or gloomy. I particularly enjoy the second track, "Silver Fox", it's a sweet bit of melancholy madrigal-pop... but every song here is lovely.
If the album has a failing it's that it may be too perfected, too careful. Fern Knight have asserted their identity by naming this record after themselves so what they are essentially saying is "This is the definition of us." They proceed to give an album's worth of excellent examples of their sound, but this leads each piece being too reminiscent of the others. I enjoy the songs individually but find them to similar when taken as a collection. These pieces sound too refined (and defined) by the end of "Fern Knight". The carefulness of the production restrains the joy that should be found on these life-affirming songs. This is a lovely listen, I just hope their next project finds them a bit more daring and that these skilled musicians will push more boundaries within themselves.
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Fern Knight:
http://www.fernknight.com
http://www.myspace.com/fernknight
VHF:
http://www.vhfrecords.com/
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