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Album Review

Nancy Elizabeth
Wrought Iron The Leaf Label

Article written by James S - Nov 5, 2009

Nancy Elizabeth - Wrought Iron

I ramble a lot. Whilst this may not seem much of a revelation to anyone who’s read my reviews before, I actually mean in the striding out in the country sense, rather than the boring people to tears way. In fact, people have been known to call me a massive walker. Well, at least I think that’s what they were saying.

Judging by the writing process of this sophomore offering from Lancashire lass Nancy Elizabeth, she seems to share my love of getting away from city life now and again. The tracks on ‘Wrought Iron’ were conceived firmly off the beaten track in the Faroe Islands, rural Spain and the Lake District, and the album’s two wordless pieces Cairns and Cat Bells are named after the welcome walking way marker and the famous Lakeland fell respectively.

Peace and quiet pervade the mood, with Nancy Elizabeth eschewing the harp of her earlier recordings in favour of a piano-led musical palette which also features guitar, glockenspiel, vibraphone and an ancient Dulcitone, all played by the singer herself. This solitude and silence approach is best demonstrated on the majestic but minimal Ruins, which begins with piano notes which arrive with the frequency of your average postman these days. It eventually builds to an almost funereal pace before being washed away by a torrential downpour in the last verse.

There’s clearly been trouble at’ mill in the personal life of this native northern soul though, and the record’s title reflects the fact that purity and strength can be forged from adversity. “There’s only two doors open; to die or to fight” she rallies on Bring On The Hurricane, which reaches an appositely stormy climax compared to the pastoral peace around it.

Other high points to the album include the restrained trumpet and hand claps on the lovely Lay Low and the loose guitar strumming and bluesy railroad harmonica tones on the Cat Power-esque The Act. As befitting an album influenced by Wainwright country, ‘Wrought Iron’ contains an awful lot of peaks and has outstanding natural beauty running right through it. And you don’t even need hiking boots to enjoy it.

Links:
http://www.nancyelizabeth.co.uk
http://www.theleaflabel.com
http://www.myspace.com/nancyelizabethcunliffe