Lights in the Harbor

Originally a side project for accordionist Drew Simon, letting him play more accordion than he could in his ‘other’ band, the Pine Leaf Boys, with Feufollet's fiddler Kelli Jones, T'Monde became a trio with the 2011 addition of guitarist Megan Constantin. As they became more successful in their own right, the jokey monicker Creole Vampires became the rather more accurate T'Monde, meaning ‘Little People’ or ‘Little World’. Tasteful and engaging, this is their third album together, and there's not much that's ‘little’ about a sound that confidently brings together influences ranging from early country music or ancient French and Creole ballads to present day Cajun music.

Jones and Constantin's delightful harmonies shine throughout, not only on a capella ballads ‘La Belle S'en Va’ and ‘Goodbye Ma Chère Amie’ but also on a shimmering version of country classic ‘Sea of Heartbreak’, while Simon's bilingual versions of Bob Wills' ‘Time Changes Everything’ and Merle Haggard's ‘I'm Looking for My Mind’ work well in a Cajun format. Typically, the band sidestep the obvious standards in favour of those heard less often, such as Paul Daigle's bouncy ‘Chère Aline’, Vin Bruce's elegant ‘Theala's Waltz’ and even Jo-El Sonnier's forgotten rocker, ‘The Bean’.