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twowoodenstones lookingforthelight
Artist: Two Wooden Stones
Title: Looking For The Light
Genre: Folk/ World Music
Release Date: 7th March 2014
Label: Kick The Flame / Broken Silence


Album Review

TWO WOODEN STONES evolved around French singer/ songwriter Shelhom, who arrived, we are told, in Leipzig armed with the proverbial battered guitar and a handful of compositions. And there is an earthy, busking feel to much of the music on 2014 album release ‘Looking For The Light’. Fleshing out his voice, which at times trembles like a young EDDIE VEDDER, are guitars, drums, keyboards and a double bass, and the band are certainly not slouches when it comes to gigging. Extensive travelling, including a Middle-East and North African tour, will only have added flavour to the mix.

You can’t go wrong starting an album with finger-clicking. Ten seconds in to opener ‘Sold My Soul’, there’s a head-spinning mix of gospel, folk story-telling, blues and bluegrass, handclaps keeping up the frantic pace, a dustbowl lament that spans as many continents as it does genres. It’s an impressive start. ‘Animal’, which follows, is from another world entirely. Its rock heart is kept buoyant by some seriously show-offy vocals, and some well-placed backing chants. And ‘The Migration’ is gentle and pastoral, completing an intriguing and complex first third. There are occasional plodders. ‘Galleons’ is fairly forgettable and sails a bit too close to the bland, and ‘Unstained’ drifts by without stamping its foot in the sand.

But everything gets firmly kicked back on track by the stunning ‘Al Hari’a’ which draws on all that touring experience to create an other-worldly monster of a song. It has a thrilling Moroccan undercurrent, while whipping up a storm of Spanish guitars, harmonies and quietly dramatic instrumentation. The singing is exceptional on what is a difficult and multi-layered piece of world-music. It’s tough to follow, but ‘Not Today’ tries admirably and keeps the pace up nicely. The title track then let’s things down somewhat, a slippery melody that seems unsure which direction to take, and it sums up clearly the negative aspects of ‘Looking For The Light’.

With so much talent on display, and such an excellent grasp of many musical styles, the problem can sometimes be simply down to the quality of the song-writing, which doesn’t always match the ambition. But when it all comes together, it’s a thrilling journey, and with some trimming and quality control TWO WOODEN STONES could very well break through into the mainstream.


Tracklist

01. Sold My Soul
02. Animal
03. The Migration
04. 707
05. Alchemist
06. Galleons
07. Unstained
08. Al Hari’a
09. Not Today
10. Looking For The Light
11. Hold On


Line-up

Shélhôm - vocals/guitar
Jeau-Champ - drums
Tiny Dawson - keyboard
Monsieur Simon - double bass


Website

https://www.facebook.com/TwoWoodenStonesMusic


Cover Picture

twowoodenstones lookingforthelight


Rating

Music: 7
Sound: 8
Total: 7.5 / 10





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