music reviews
Joe Whyte’s stunning alt-rock/Americana set, Devil in the Details feels comfortingly familiar and refreshingly new at the same time; using the classic tools of the genre - mandolin, pedal steel, fiddle – Whyte’s clever arrangements make his sound wholly unique. The musician is at his up-tempo best on tracks like “This Foolish Heart” with its plaintive-but-spirited mandolin strains and touch of vocal twang, and “Linden to L.A.” with its insistent beat, tambourine slaps, and passionate harmonica. Whyte takes it down a notch on some of his best songs, like the gorgeous title track, with its weeping pedal steel, delicately tapped tambourine, and aching lyrics like “as long as drinking don’t lead to leaving I’ll be alright… / the blood crawls through me now ‘cause this heart won’t spit it out.” Possibly the most impressive thing Whyte has done here, though, is create a cohesive, cleverly-arranged set that eases from one song to the next; there’s no throwaway tracks here – every one begs a listen from the opening note.
www.joewhyte.com
You’ll be hard-pressed to find something more wholly unique, inventive, and fresh – despite being derived from ancient melodies and biblical stories – than Pharaoh’s Daughter’s latest release, “Haran.” The fourth album from this Jewish folk group combines traditional Judaic music, Arabic and West African influences, and thoroughly modern beats and swagger, to create hypnotic, almost psychedelic sounds that are engaging as they are inventive. Formerly Orthodox, impressively worldly band leader Basya Schechter invites listeners along for a vocal tour of her travels as she croons wordlessly on album opener “Haran,” (a biblical city in eastern Turkey), and elsewhere in Hebrew, Ladino, and Arabic. As Schechter sings stories like that of Joseph and Noah and the flood, and recreates a Kabbalistic song from the third meal of Shabbat, instruments like accordion, violin, ney, recorder, oud, and saz weave lush melodies. With its endless layers and turns, Haran is relentlessly intriguing.
www.pharaohsdaughter.com
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Craig Greenberg’s debut EP is exactly what a proper debut should be: unselfconscious, energetic and fun. Four of the five tracks here are driven by jaunty, lively keys, quick-witted lyrics, and experimental arrangements. “Offers Up Some Kind Words” is all bouncing vocals riding on shining keys while “She’s Not Alright” takes a turn for the playfully dramatic with a cabaret influence and a pair of lush interludes featuring brushed snare, thick guitar strums, and rolling percussion. “No Love for Her,” is a freewheeling romp about a fling gone bad (“she says the love we made was not just a passing chance / never signed a deal that said with sex there’d be romance”) with whimsical tapped keys. “Walking the Line” is about letting go and the melody does just that, racing at breakneck speed from start to finish. In fact, Greenberg only takes a turn for the mellower side on his final track, the dramatic ballad “As Long As I’m to Live.” Greenberg leaves listeners hoping he’s not planning to slow down anytime soon.
www.craiggreenbergmusic.com
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To label Will Knox as just another UK import simply wouldn’t justify the man’s ability with written word. His songs are clean and delightfully orchestrated but his strengths lay in lyrics of originality that sooth, inspire and encourage - all of which can be savoured throughout his new EP release ‘Buckled Knees’. This five-song EP manages to capture much of Knox’s evident talent for song writing and musicianship as well as highlighting the craftsmanship of his five-piece acoustic band - all of which combine to create a charming debut offering. The title track is a self-deprecating look into Knox’s own pursuit of fame and fortune though he shows no signs of letting up (To be a star of stage and screen/I sold my soul for magic beans/Now I’m as empty as the pockets on my skin-tight jeans). ‘Try’ suggests the regrettable breakdown of a relationship - something that may have been prevented (If I try a little truth sometimes/And learn to live an honest life/It never should have been this way/If I’d learned to try she might have stayed) where as in ‘Never Letting Go’ Knox shares with us the pain and difficulty in getting over those mistakes (If I could break away I would/And free myself from off your hooks/I’d take your hands from off my neck/And give me one last breath/So I can scream ‘Let me go, let me go’). Knox writes with a wisdom and experience that belies his years and, if this EP is anything to go by, will be around for a good few more.
www.will-knox.com
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joe wythe 
