Carrying On
New West, 2019
8/10
A duo from a very remote place in Saskatchewan, Kacy & Clayton incorporate the folk, blues and country sounds from their hometown into a very rich and authentic listen on this 5th album.
“The Forty-Ninth Parallel” starts the listen with pretty, expressive singing from Kacy on the soaring ‘70s influenced setting, and “Carrying On’ continues both members contributing vocals on the key friendly, spirited affair.
Elsewhere, “In A Time Of Doubt” flows with playful rhythm in the retro fun, while the bluesy love song “Intervention” offers tumbling percussion amid the harmonic atmosphere. “Providence Place”, the album highlight, finds haze and melody weaved into the ruggedness and darker themed subject matter.
Near the end, “Spare Me Over One More Year” finds a comfortable place to reside alongside country sounds and “That Sweet Orchestra Sound” exits the listen with a breeziness that brings in Charlie McCoy on bass harmonica as Clayton’s guitar work remains proficient.
Recorded mostly as live takes and with few overdubs, Jeff Tweedy turned the knobs on this one, and helped truly capture the mountain-esque and most intense song craft from the pair that we have yet to hear. While there’s a more obvious twang in their formula this time around, it’s delivered flawlessly and with a captivating quality that we’ve come to expect from these cousins.
Travels well with: Wild Rivers- Eighty Eight; The Deslondes- The Deslondes