Reviews

Artist: Catherine Anne Davies
EPs: Songs For The Boy That Wouldn't Read Rilke/Long Day
Label:Folkwit
Tracks: 8
Rating: ***
Contact:   www.myspace.com/catherineannedavies

When I was releasing my early material, home produced ment on 15 minutes cassette from Tandy with a hand folded photocopied sleeve. With the limited editions of her two eps, Songs For The Boy That Wouldn't Read Rilke/Long Day, Catherine Anne takes home produced to a new level.
The limited edition come in corset packs, homemade paper, bound with ribbon, delicately edged. The cd cover lovingly block printed giving each cd an individual feel. Aah yes, I hear you say, but does it live up to it's promise? Does Catherine Anne make her songs as good as the wrapping? The simple answer to both questions is yes.
Striped back and atmospheric, Ms. Davies is a mistress of dark sensual songs. Folk-noir is a genre that is starting to reach out to a wider audience and demanding to be heard. Yet there is also a warmth that comes through as a counterpoint. The sun about to crest the horizon, but not yet broken through.
More importantly Catherine Anne, manages to achieve the effect without coming across as fay, or ephemoral. There is something very solid about her songs even when she's extending the vocals into a haunting refrain. There's still a grip on the lyric that let's you know she's still in control of the song and she's not to going to lah-lah-lah because the piano seems to have gone off in a different direction.
It's a voice that has a smouldering sensuality. You know it's there because it's got presence and when it let's you drift away, it does so because it knows it can pull you back anytime it likes.
Catherine Anne Davies knows her craft as performer and songwriter. The eps can be viewed as two halves of a whole or as single pieces and no, I've not got a clue about the "Songs For The Boy That Wouldn't Read Rilke" title