poppedmusic

One Dress

Released December 5th 2012

Brooke Sharkey is relatively new to me but what an impact she has had on my ears already. Her début album One Dress has so much to it that it does require a little work at times because it has a real interesting array of musical concept; from jazz, folk and touches of French Bohemian, especially with her ability to sing bilingually in both English and French. You can find fantastic examples of her language abilities in tracks such as Un Chantier and Our Ways. Both of which have such differing sounds and use the language changes in dramatic ways, especially in Our Ways where she sings in and out of the languages with an almost staccato fashion, and if I could fully understand it I’d be able to tell for sure if it was all within the same sentence, it has that feel though.

It isn’t just the language use that is impressive in One Dress, it’s 22 year old Brooke’s vocal and song writing skills that are clear. Comparable to the maturity other young folk singers such as Laura Marling show, Brooke also has a very unusual timbre to her vocal and a slight warble which at first I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t find annoying after a while, but instead I slowly fell in love with it because it’s so controlled and used with decent effect at the right times.  The first track on the album, Autumn, displays her incredible story telling which is full of poetic imagery and clarity and the distinctive vocal from the off.

One Dress is packed with thirteen tracks that continue to display imaginative stories that have a real ring of truth to them. The production is clean and uncomplicated bringing that truth a little closer to the listener. Every little nuance is clear and brings a real beauty as it isn’t hidden behind the plinking and pluckings of strings and slaps of acoustic percussion brushes that accompany it.  It is also noteworthy that the tempo of the album and indeed throughout individual tracks brings constant interest and commands attention. If there is one track that brings together everything I’ve said so far then it would be Storm. The tempo moves fluidly between up-tempo and slow lingering sweeps of strings; changes in texture both musically and vocally – Brooke uses notes, tones and accents, as well as languages, to really change the feel of this track as it moves along. Storm takes you on a journey within 4 minutes 14 seconds, something that many other artists fail to do over entire albums let alone one track.

It is somewhat difficult for me to pick out any specific tracks that I prefer over others with this album, because quite frankly it changes all the time. For today though I feel that the bookend of the album, His Voice, holds something pretty spectacular. It’s light and sensitive for the most part, both musically and vocally and the picking is fluttery and adds a tiny touch of magic, for me it was the perfect choice to use to close the album with.

This is very much an album that grows with time, it requires a little work to appreciate everything because there really is so much depth in which you can delve into with each listen. There’s more traditional folk story telling than you might find in the more fashionable pop folk that we get to hear so much of these past few years. There’s nothing wrong with that of course but an album and artist such as this can soon show just how pop folk can be done with a little more class and conviction and perhaps integrity. This is a true album full of album tracks rather than stuffed with hit singles and filler; it works as an overall concept.  I do hope that those who enjoy the lighter side of folk will also find something enjoyable and pleasurable by delving into the myriad of tales that have been cleverly and carefully stitched into the tapestry of the album which is One Dress.

Listen and download for free His Voice here: