Bridie Jackson And The Arbour - Bitter Lullabies (2012)

Starting as a solo artist and collaborating with lots of other
musicians Bridie Jackson eventually decided to start a proper band and
The Arbour got together about two years ago after Jackson met Jenny
Nendick, Rachel Cross and Carol Bowden through work and the local
music scene. They released their debut album Bitter Lullabies last
year and got an incredible response receiving airplay on BBC Radio 3,
BBC 6Music and Amazing Radio.

They're now frantically preparing for Glastonbury, which isn't far
away and have another project up their sleeves, which I'll get on to
later.

The music they're producing really does make you melt and at times
feel very sad. It's simple and sparse and resonates through you.
Crying strings accompany a sorrowful yet powerful voice throughout
their debut record. Promises Are Broken To The Young is a track that
stands out to me. The gospel harmonies are extremely powerful and the
hollow sound floating through your ears makes it a little celestial.

The ability to go from this sound to one of moodiness and power is
showed on the song Aliens. Then at the beginning of Mucky we hear
Jackson sounding a bit more upbeat and the guitar plucks away at a
much faster pace showing their diversity. There are addictive
recurring loops on the album but also unexpected twists and turns that
have you sitting up and taking notice.