It is said that one day soon the fields of the musical world will be sown with the seeds of Americana and the crops will, forever more, be plentiful. So, it is perhaps something of a surprise to find that dear old Blighty is, for once, ahead of the game with Abel &Eade turning their album “Hope &Anchor” in as part of this crop.
This duo – half British and half American – have learned the ways of the Americana genre well and, with subtlety and safety much to the fore, take us on a familiar journey through the dustbowl viewed, as you might expect, with the rose tinted glasses of the true believer. Whilst much of what fills this album with sentimentality is mostly American in approach and acoustic Americana in style, an appealing touch of English folk influences does sneak in to give a most pleasing purity to the proceedings with this being most clearly evident in “Snow” and the title song “Hope & Anchor”. Both of these songs allow, quite wisely, the clear and sonorous voice of Rosie Eade to soar.
Americana is what it is and Abel & Eade have little problem giving fans of the genre what they want with this album and they even manage to squeeze an element of humour while they go about it. This is, of course, commendable but, to my ears at least, it is the songs rooted on this side of the Atlantic that have the most resonance.