French folk act Queen Of The Meadow seemed to come out of nowhere in 2916 with their debut album Aligned With Juniper. Long story short: singer Helen Furguson picks up the guitar at 27, is taught to play by Julien Pras, they fall in love, and she writes the songs for an album that gets rave reviews. Now that that the novelty of a kick-started career has worn off, the next album has to live up to the expectations.
A Room To Store Happiness shows no signs of the "difficult second album" jinx. Ferguson uses her voice as the main force, stacking layers upon layers to create a pastoral, psychedelic feel (yes, unicorns and rainbows are mentioned). Stand-out track Ashes Adele is almost a chorale, a celebration of the human voice (and some studio trickery to connect the parts). Multi-instrumentalist Julien Bras knows when to hold back or step forward, depending on what is needed for the song. His bass playing almost floats just beneath it all. Joe Jackson once proclaimed that Happy Loving Couples have no stories, but Ferguson and Bras prove him wrong.
Queen Of The Meadow:
Helen Ferguson: lead vocals, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano
Julien Pras: backing vocals, electric and Nashville guitar, piano, bass, drums and percussion, autoharp
A Room To Store Happiness is released on Tiny Room Records (Netherlands) and Only Lovers Records (France).
Tracks:- Withdrawn
- Heavenly Start
- Fairytopia
- Valentine's Day
- Royal Garden
- Ashes Adèle
- Slumber
- Perfect Harmony
- Empty Room
- Orpheus
- 10/20 Le Zinc, Poitiers*
- 10/21 La Petite Populaire, La Réole*
- 10/22 Total Heaven, Bordeaux*
- 10/24 Les Pavillons Sauvages, Toulouse*
- 11/24 Walrus, Paris
* w/ The World Of Dust
» Queen Of The Meadow on Facebook
HCTF review of Aligned With Juniper.