Monday, February 22, 2010
http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Review.aspx?id=7080
Sarah MacDougall: Across the Atlantic
Reviewed By: Malcolm Carter
Label: Copperspine Records
Format: CD
Although only just recently released in the U.K. Sarah MacDougall’s second album has been available, certainly in Sweden, the country she was born in, for nearly a year now. It appears that a few years ago MacDougall made another album, ‘Headed for the Hills’, but it was only available at gigs. So not having heard that debut and with ‘Across the Atlantic’ being touted as MacDougall’s first official release we’ll treat it as such.
Currently living in Canada when she is not touring, which is something MacDougall seems to do a lot of, it’s not surprising that the music she makes can easily be bracketed in the alt. country / folk genre. What is surprising is that MacDougall not only wrote all ten songs on ‘Across the Atlantic’ but she also recorded and produced them. This is no kitchen-sink production either, apart from a maybe misguided introduction to the opening song, ‘Ballad Of Sherri’, which sounds like it’s coming through a tinny transistor radio. MacDougall should be proud of the fact that if, for some unfathomable reason her singing career should fail, then she could well be in demand as a producer.
‘Ballad of Sherri’ eventually does get to shine. Maybe MacDougall was trying to make a point that she is no lightweight; that she knows where the roots of the music she makes come from with that introduction, but once the sound of the song fills out it shows that MacDougall can write an extremely catchy tune coupled with lyrics that are far from throw-away. It’s a good sing-along country song, one that belies MacDougall’s age and origin but worryingly, as an opener, makes a new listener wonder if, fine as this song is, it’s all she has to offer.
Thankfully on the following song, ‘Ramblin’, MacDougall presents us with the first of a bunch of slower songs on ‘Across the Atlantic’; songs that we eventually, by the end of the album, know that this is where her future should lie.
There have been many names mentioned when writers have been trying to compare MacDougall to other female singer/songwriters. With ‘Ramblin’ there is only one comparison needed and that’s with possibly the most important female singer/songwriter to emerge in the last thirty years, the one who, in fact, named her first album ‘Ramblin’ and is named Lucinda Williams. I hear so much of Williams in this particular song, especially her later work. But what is most surprising is not that MacDougall manages to evoke the work of Williams on this song but that she achieves it at a much younger age than Williams did. It took a good few years until Williams’ music matured into what it is today and the same amount of years for her to gain the recognition she deserved. If MacDougall comes up with more songs of the calibre of ‘Ramblin’ then her journey to the top will be considerably shorter than the road Williams had to travel.
The production on these songs really is remarkable. Even when MacDougall and the bunch of musicians she chose to bring these songs to life let loose on songs that are more upbeat and country influenced like the opening song and ‘Cry Wolf’, MacDougall manages to capture the sound of a band having fun and enjoying recording the songs without them ever sounding ramshackle; one gets the feeling that a lot of heart and soul went into each and every note.
The title song is another beautiful tune, slowing the pace down to sing the praises of her hometown while missing a loved one left “Across The Atlantic” it’s another catchy tune but typically, while on her more up tempo songs her melodies can sometimes grate a little if you are not in the best of moods, on slower songs MacDougall’s tunes envelop the listener like that favourite winter coat. Even if it wasn’t possibly the only song ever to be written about Malmö, it will always be the best song written about that town.
MacDougall plays the same trick on the next song on the album, ‘I’ve Got Your Back’, another slow gem of a song with MacDougall sounding her world-weariest best it’s another song that will break hearts.
We’re only two months into a new year but MacDougall has been the biggest surprise so far with possibly the best new album I’ve heard so far this year. The production is impressive, MacDonald obviously has an ear for putting the right but sometimes totally unexpected sounds in just the right places, the playing is immaculate throughout and her vocals pull you into every song. I’d have to say that I prefer MacDougall when she sings her heartbreaking ballads but even when she ups the tempo the strength of her melodies wins me over.
Sarah MacDougall is touring Europe from April and I hear she is even performing at some small venues in Sweden in March ; catch her now while you can. I’ve a feeling that it won’t be too long before she has to leave the more intimate venues behind. ‘Across The Atlantic’; the first truly great album of 2010.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Rate (1-5) : ****
Born in Sweden, but living in Vancouver, Canada, Sarah MacDougall is one of those gifted singer songwriters that is able to captivate an audience both on record as on stage! For the past years she’s been touring Europe, Scandinavia and Canada to promote her album “Across the Atlantic” an alt.country effort that comes with a handful of great tunes.
Leading track “Ballad of Sherri” opens with a bliss and gives away what Miss MacDougall has in store for us. “Cry Wolf” is another track that immediately attracts your attention! Not only the upbeat tempo but also the instrumentation and the catchy chorus is worth to listen to.
On “Hundred Dollar Bills” Sarah uses more of these strange instruments to accompany her voice. Well these instruments are not that strange, but face it the use of a cello, euphonium (aka Tuba) or a weissenborn (kind of lap guitar) aren’t standard either. “Biggest Mistake”, “Crow’s Lament” and “Goodbye Julie” are beautifully closing down this nice album full of self penned tunes.
While touring the world, Sarah is constantly working on a new album as well! An effort that is promised somewhere later this year, but in the mean time we have to do with Across the Atlantic. If you are into artists like Buffy Saint Marie, Eliza Gilkyson or Joan Baez then Sarah MacDougall will certainly find a place on your cd player.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
http://music-news.com/ShowReview.asp?H=Sarah-MacDougall-Across-The-Atlantic-album-review&nReviewID=5521&nType=1
It sometimes feels as though all the best music is coming out of Canada these days and this album by Sarah MacDougall keeps that refrain going – it is simply delicious.
This would be put in the alt.country pigeon-hole but there is as much folk and even bluegrass in her sound and some of the tracks on this album stand comparison with some of the greats. She has a sensitive approach to her music with real melodies and a tone that speaks to the heart of the listener without sugarcoating or applying the saccharine as she sings about the joys and the hardships of life.
She manages to vary the tempo and the form from track to track, every song is different and on numbers like ‘Hundred Dollar Bills’ she manages to mix the jaunty sound of a euphonium and the melancholy of the viola before bouncing into ‘Biggest Mistake’, all up-tempo country with some superb guitar work. ‘Crow’s Lament’ sings of the solitary bird among the masses below and asks the question ‘Where do birds go when they die?’.
All through this album we are treated to songs about the solitary individual and the dichotomy of wanting human company and this is superbly demonstrated on ‘Ramblin’ as she sings ‘I’ve been rambling all my life so come on baby, ramble with me now ….. I’ve been rambling alone all my life’ over a steel lap slide; you feel the emotional split between wanting to keep your life as it was but feeling the need for contact and warmth.
10 tracks and every one a cracker in its own way, this is Ms MacDougall’s debut official release and it sounds as though she will have a huge future ahead of her.
She is touring in April and May and the idea of seeing her in a venue like Camden’s Green Note Cafe or the Amberley Folk Club where she will be ‘intimate’ with the audience sounds like heaven to me.
www.sarahmacdougall.com www.myspace.com/sarahmacdougall
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Ramblin’ is one of the top 50 songs to download in Q magazine this month! Click here to listen to a clip and rate it! : )
Q50 – February 2010.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
More great reviews this week for Across the Atlantic! 4 stars out of 5 in Q Magazine (Will be in the March issue) Plus, Q Magazine put Ramblin’ on their list of one of the 50 essential tracks to download for that month!
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Sarah Macdougall – ‘Across The Atlantic’ (Copperspine)
From Canada via Stockholm, Sarah Macdougall gets things off to a rumbustious start with ‘Ballad Of Sherri’, a cantering klezmer piece that had me anticipating all manner of inventions across the next nine tracks. Next song ‘Ramblin” is a bit too much of a style leap to sit really comfortably with the album opener though, it sounds gorgeous but also plods a little too slowly towards what I began to fear was a prematurely MOR conclusion. Not,of course, so: ‘Cry Wolf’ is a jolly old barndance foottapper, and the rest of the album alternates between fast and slow numbers with near-mechanical regularity.
What really kept me, and quite possibly you, listening to ‘Across The Atlantic’ is its production quality. It is the most expensive sounding album I’ve heard for some time, and its guitars, percussion, and Sarah Macdougall herself sound quite stunning. There is a depth and clarity to the sound that you simply don’t get using pro tools and the whole thing oozes richness and will make your tinny little stereo sound like a hugely overpriced wall to wall system designed for some billionaire’s hideaway in the Maldives. ‘Where Do Birds Go To Die?’ asks Sarah during the softly wistful 8th track ‘I’ve Got Sorrow’, and I know the answer to that one; they go round to your place, Ms Macdougall, where your combination of near perfect diction and sultry phrasing quite probably knocks all those poor little pigeons clean out of their trees. Got a hi-fi store? Put this on and watch your stock practically walk out of your shop.
http://sarahmacdougall.com
JG
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Telling tales of train jumping and dancing in the rain, alt. Country/ indie folksinger Sarah MacDougall sails blissfully into our mindscapes with “Across the Atlantic”
What do you get when you combine softened melodies with lyrics of a quirky yet poignant disposition and not to mention raw unabashed vocals? You get an arousing debut release from Swedish born, Canadian based songwriter Sarah MacDougall. Already being compared to the likes of Eliza Gilkyson and fellow Canadian native Leslie Feist, MacDougall brings together a self-produced endeavour that is sure to attract attention from both sides of the Atlantic.
Blissfully executed, ‘Across The Atlantic’ ranges from the jolty kitsch intro of ‘Ballad of Sherri’, to infectiously bittersweet ‘Hundred Dollar Bills’, to the barn yard toe tapping country stomper ‘Biggest Mistake’. Adept at creating that rousingly joyous track such as ‘Cry Wolf’ on the album, she shows herself to be just as proficient at producing a melancholy anthem or two. Each song on this album possesses its own rich beauty that’s made all the better by the quality of MacDougall’s vocals. Raw, engaging and ultimately heart warming, it’s a voice and sound that undoubtedly sticks in your head.
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