Reviews

Artist:Olwen Ringrose
Album:Daughter Of The King
Label:Self Released
Tracks: 10
Rating: ***
Contact:   http://www.olwenringrose.co.uk

The very first thing that you notice about "Daughter Of The King" is the quality of Olwen Ringrose's voice. I was immediately reminded of the lingering sparseness of The Sunday's Harriet Wheeler, a comparison that I don't make lightly. I was also partly reminded of US band Sixpence None The Richer.
As well as the vocal inflections, the sound of Olwen's band, a band that includes Mark Edwards of Fairground Attraction fame, amongst others, brings up similar comparisons with the Sundays as well as aforementioned Sixpence etc. It does have it's own distinctive additions by comparison. "Daughter Of The King" adds some distinctive Celtic touches to it's brand of floating acoustic pop.
Olwen's vocals draw you into the song in a way that very few vocalists can. There is something about this style of voice and this style of delivery that sends goosebumps down the spine. I have to be in the right mood, but when that moods there, the combination of voice, band and delivery are just so there. In the same way that I could listen to Harriet Wheeler singing the phone book if it was a Sunday's song, I could do the same thing with Olwen Ringrose.
Something that sets "Daughter Of The King" apart from The Sunday's albums is that they were/are song collections, this is very much a concept album and the concept of the album is the love of god and the love that god has for the world. Yep, "Daughter Of The King" is a Christian folk album.
Does that make a difference? I hear you ask. In all honesty probably not. "Daughter Of The King" is not a hell and damnation album. It's not trying to convert, rather it celebrates something very important in the songwriters life. It means that she delivers the songs with a passion, because it's Olwen Ringrose's album and she penned it. If I was listening to an album that sounded this good with songs on other subjects, I wouldn't hestitate to recommend it.
It would appear that occasionally the devil doesn't have all of the best tunes. "Daughter Of The King" is a fine folk album and Olwen Ringrose has one of those voices you can't ignore.