Falling

The Fire Doves, a UK duo consisting of the two singers Sebastiana Black and Birgitta Campbell, one playing accordion and the other violin and recorder, have chosen to record a happy mixture of folk-tinged originals, and songs by the likes of Leonard Cohen and Edith Piaf. Courageously, they have also chosen to play acoustically, with little in the way of studio enhancements; this leaves their performances very exposed.

Sometimes this works successfully, as in ‘Symphony of Sky’, where the descending intonation of the simple vocal line is supported and given depth by accordion and alternating violin and recorder parts. Even here, however, the flaws of insecure technical control and intonation render certain sections troublesome, while Black's rather over-demonstrative, grand guignol vocal style too often seems at odds with the straightforward diatonic harmonies and sweetness of the melodies. The passionate ‘La Llorona’ is an exception here, but is let down by the imprecise instrumental backing. Yet there is a lot of imagination in the arrangements on this album – for instance in the a capella ‘Ten Thousand Flowers’, or the violin accompaniment for Cohen's ‘Dance Me to the End of Love’. Ultimately, this falls under the category ‘very brave’, leading to great hopes that they can unlock their obvious potential in the future.