Okay, this beautiful 10" was released alredy in December but unfortunately I've been too busy to review it before. This excellent psych folk duo from Stockholm, Sweden have released two albums and eight singles & EP's but this is their first release in the very cool 10" vinyl format. Keith from Fruits de Mer got the lovely couple of Britt and Anders convinced that it would be a good idea for them to record five folk rock songs sung by his favourite singer Sandy Denny. Some of you might remember her from bands like Fotheringay, Fairport Convention or Strawbs and her career ended in 1978 when she died tragically at the age of 31. In addition to Britt's brilliant voice and the exquisite guitars, keyboards and electronics of Anders the recordings also include Tony Swettenham on Mellotron. Now, you already know the potential of this collaboration from the brilliant Summerisle EP from 2011 and they work together like magic this time as well. I got to say the end results do sound amazing!
The 10" starts with Denny's beautiful and melancholic "Winter Winds" originally recorded by Fotheringay in 1970 and I'm loving it. "Farewell, Farewell" is next and this very touching Fairport Convention song fits perfectly for Us and Them as well. Just wonderful. "Next Time Around" is a slow and somehow mysterious sounding song that was originally released on Denny's second solo album in 1971. Us and Them's spell-bounding version is almost two minutes longer than the original and really gets under your skin in a good way. On the B-side we first got the almost nine-minute version of the traditional "Banks of the Nile" and I really enjoy the fragile, emotional vibes on this one. Later on there are also some male vocals by Anders. Lots of Mellotron on this one! The 10" is finished with the two-minute folk piece "Take Away the Load" (recorded by Fairport Convention as "Sandy's Song") and it's a pretty, a bit more positive way to end this brilliant release. There are 700 copies of this beauty on orange vinyl and also 200 on white. Go and get yourself a copy!
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