Under The Light Of An Orange Lamp

She’s the white swan, he’s the black swan, together Sonya Waters and Ben Howe are two people making timeless music. Stalwarts of the New Zealand music industry, their individual pasts paint an impressive picture. Waters was a member of legendary 80s punk band The Instigators, as well as The Woodentops, ICU and Orange. Howe also has a prolific back catalogue, but is most well known for his time spent in the band Superette. The pair also performed together in Fang.

Their latest self titled release is out now on Arch Hill Records. It is a double disc mini-album; one disc being the White Swan, the other the Black Swan. But while it sounds and looks like two EP’s packaged into one, it is not. The album is a collaborative effort that extends beyond even Waters and Howe, and features the skills of Rick McShane (drums), Ben Furniss (bass) as well as being produced by Mark Nevers (famous for producing artists such as Calexico, Lambchop and David Kilgour).

Without stealing words straight from the band, this album is simply a beautiful epitaph. Drifting between alt-country folk and contemporary jazz, the songs sound perfectly nestled in the Auckland countryside. Whether walking in the park, or at home on a summers day, the songs have an honest charm that will have you constantly turning back for more. Howe’s voice is an absolute highlight, a grainy drawl reminiscent of Nick Cave or Robert Fisher. Coupled together with delightful lyrics about old black and white movies and household junk, his voice is captivating and is the dominant force on the Black Swan disc. This is however not to discredit Waters, her style while different from Howe’s, does not stand alone in the mist. The pair provide the perfect compliment to each other and after several listens I believe it was a good idea to separate the two discs. As a two-disc set it provides the listener with a choice; there is enough diversity between the two discs to warrant not being played together, but both deserve equal listening time.

White Swan Black Swan- Super 8 Movies: MP3

White Swan Black Swan- Finger and Nail: MP3

White Swan Black Swan- Myspace

 

Posted by Nick Fulton under New Zealand
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