Ivy York - The Call of Spring
One of the most damning indictments a reviewer can make of an artist is calling them ‘landfill’. Be it ‘indie-landfill’, or ‘pop-landfill’, or even ‘math-rock-landfill’ (not a regular gripe, I concede). So it’s worth Ivy Hope noting that many times while listening to her ‘The Call of Spring’ EP, the word ‘landfill’ did creep upon my lips.
Tinkly, wispy track ‘Island Song’ sounds like Katie Melua, while ‘Cowboy’ is awash with slide guitar effects that were abundant on last year’s Plant/Krauss collaboration. So obviously York is adding to the mountainous pile of ‘folk-pop’ which has flooded the market in recent years, right?
Well not quite, because the initial foundation of this EP is far more alluring. The song that bears the name of the EP and follow up track ‘The More I Have’ are intimate whispery delights, that you might imagine hearing in a smoky French cafe on a blustery winter’s night. York’s vocals have a strong hint of Martha Wainwright, and crowd the lyrics with a textured, lived in feeling. Sparse, floating orchestration and ghostly backing vocals swirl around like winds blowing eerie howls through a quiet house, which adds even more to the sense of intimacy.
Hopefully when she releases her first full album, this will be the spirit that is captured, rather than the colour-by-numbers drivel of her potential counter-parts.