Review "A Storm is Coming"
"Sweet sounds, deep overtones"
First things first: "A Storm Is Coming" sounds lovely. The singing and playing are full of relaxed confidence, a gentle sway that draws the listener in. It's tinged with country, spiced with a little blues, and
centered around a rhythmic kind of small-group folk-rock that never stops leaning forward. You could lie in a hammock and listen to this all night.
Then phrases from the lyrics seep into your consciousness: "It's just business, he said, as he smiled so seriously ..." (to a tune that puts a smile on your face). And: "Mrs Jones, we regret that your son has been killed in the war ..." Or: "I remember a time when a tousled haired child went walking with old Father Time ..." As the words sink in, you start to understand that this is seriously adult music, made by people who have lived, and learned to accept their lives as they really are, not just as they wish they were. It's not exactly political, it's just real. Even the joyful "Out on the Town Again" includes the wry commentary: "So now I've cast my hook and all I see, / Are glimpses of my insecurity. / I never want to feel this way again ; I never want to feel the same."
Tim and Laura have spent years singing silly for kids -- but kids are a tough audience, and the kids certainly knew (even if they didn't know they knew) that the Battersby Duo could be silly about lost socks and elephants' toenail pizza precisely because their hearts were always in the right place. They always encouraged children to read and learn and appreciate the world around them. Now, under the name Cross Creek, they are singing for the parents, and for themselves.
Will this recording change the world? I doubt it, and I don’t think it's really meant to. It’s just part of the world, and the world is better for that.
about the author:Pete Shanks attended Oxford University, where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He has studied the eugenic possibilities of biotechnology and has worked with the Center for Genetics and Society. He is the author of Human Genetic Engineering: A Guide for Activists, Skeptics, and the Very Perplexed (Nation Books). He is a regular contributor to Psychology Today
or
Listen and buy songs from the album for 99c
"Cross Creek: seriously adult music"
The songs on Cross Creeks latest CD A Storm is Coming range in style from Blues to to Folk Rock with a bit of country thrown in for good measure. There's a certain wonderful homely American quality about this album, that is both sweetly thought provoking and blisteringly sincere. The 12 songs on A Storm is Coming are just a little melancholy (except for "That Magical Youth" which is downright heart-wrenching) Just the right thing for us folks who've learned a thing or two about navigating those crocodile infested waters of life! The still waters run deep both lyrically and musically as a listener is catapulted back to an era of Dylan and CSNY, where tight harmonies and catchy melodies inject sense and reason to the political chaos of that time; where we're still able to enjoy going "Out on the Town Again" and dancing wickedly close in smoky bluesy bar-rooms..Fantasy..perhaps..or not... and though we may be defiantly set in our ways in 2010 like "The Old Man" and his southern comfort, we can still learn and adapt and hope others can as well? "A Song for Dylan" begs the question.."where did time fly?" and "The English Teacher" is a beautiful and intensely emotional nod to literacy and a tribute to Marjorie Rawlings, while "Reflections of a Major" is a song of war and loss. This new collection by Cross Creek is without question worthy of this 60 something's time A wonderful CD to help bring the "wise out in us all. A good buy..
about the author: Nicolas Chadwick attended Cambridge University, where he received a Masters degree in Applied Linguistics and Economics. He lives and works in London