Marry Waterson's third solo album and her second with guitarist David A Jaycock finds her expanding her circle of collaborators and her sonic palette if not her source material. As you'd expect from a member of England's first folk family – she's the daughter of Lal Waterson, niece to Norma Waterson and cousin to Eliza Carthy – Death Had Quicker Wings Than Love draws on the themes, moods, motifs and musical hooks of traditional music, specifically folks tales and fables, which Waterson has re-worked into new songs.
Among the new musical helpmates are Portishead's Adrian Utley, who produces, and John Parish, PJ Harvey's guitarist and long-time collaborator. He provides percussion on Small Ways and Slowly, which closes the album.
Throughout, Waterson's lyrics deliver a dense set of images at a pace which is never less than stately (this line from Gunshot Lips – “As the smoke lifts from your gunshot lips, my turning tricks made me your bitch” – is typical) while Jaycock's guitar embellishes and supports but never swamps. And where previous album Two Wolves was polished and silky sounding, Utley's production in his home studio has a lo-fi feel which makes it pleasingly – and sometimes alarmingly – intimate.
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