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Folk music from the shadows (May 23, 2009) Had Stephen King decided to write lyrics (go with this for a second or two) and had Edgar Broughton taken to dark folk, the combination would produce brooding, unsettling music with psychopathic lyrics and disconcerting vocals. This is exactly what you get from The Doomed Bird of Providence – a four-piece folk band from Colchester. This is folk music from the shadows. Gathering grim shades from Australia’s fearsome convict-scarred past – ghosts, suicide, murder and living death – it’s all here. The creators of this exercise in gloom are Dan (violin) Drew (ukulele) Mark (piano accordion, vocals) and Stafford (bass guitar). They are The Doomed Bird of Providence. This eponymous CD delivers four tracks that pile on the anxiety.
First, there’s ‘A Letter from Van Dieman’s Land’ (guess a possible theme) that
weaves a fictional relationship around two notorious Victorian villains – a
poisoner and a murderer - one
Only four tracks – more would probably induce suicide in the listener – with waves of sound as the instruments battle with one another, and the vocals grind out the stories. If you fancy dark folk then listen - but not if you're feeling even slightly down.
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hanged, one deported. The vocals are harsh and grim
with violin and drum adding ill-omened menace. Next is ‘Brothers Will be
Brothers’ – a convict eating a dead bother’s food while convincing the guard to
ignore the smell from the hidden corpse. More ever-darkening vocals while
strident guitar and violin fight fiercely. ‘Dorothy Handland’ tells the story
of a suicide and more ominous menace is the result. And then there’s ‘Bells in
the Dead of Night’ – a gruesome tale of haunting with overriding gloomy piano
accordion.