Ninebarrow
Album: Kingdom
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 6
Website: http://ninebarrowacoustic.wix.com/ninebarrow

One of folk music's great strengths has always been its duos. Indeed there is even a special category for them in the folk awards and like tennis, there have been excellent single genre pairs as well as mixed. Ninebarrow are a couple of lads from Dorset, Jon Whitley and Jay Labouchardiere and if their debut EP, "Kingdom", is anything to go by expect that name to become quite familiar.

Named after one of Dorset's most recognisable features, they share a number of its characteristics, for a start it has an imposing nature, one that imprints itself on your consciousness. It has a harmony with the landscape in which it sits, a key part of a large whole, it feels like it should be there, not intruding, but creating an awareness. Those characteristics in aural form define the sound of Ninebarrow.

The six tracks that make up "Kingdom" have a naturalistic feel to them, there are a lot of nature derived similes used across the EP, accompanied by tight harmonies that sit in an aural landscape that become more than their component parts. Most important, is that the songs get your attention, they don't grab and snatch at you, they make you feel that you want to listen, a crucial touch.

Ninebarrow have a poetry in their presentation that stretches beyond the words in the songs, although that is impressive enough. Locally they are making quite an impression gaining a slot at the prestigious Lamma Tree Festival, word of mouth is already getting them heard about further afield, get yourself a copy of "Kingdom" and you'll understand why.

Neil King