Fresh as fresh can be
The Makepeace Brothers' first offering is a self-titled album that combines a simple freshness with a melodic likeability.
Growing up home-schooled and exposed to a wealth of diverse music through their parents' love of festivals and varying tastes, influences from artists such as Paul Simon and Bob Dylan can be clearly heard in many of the tracks, which combine harmonising vocals and guitar with a variety of percussion instruments to create a refreshing, gentle sound.
While the style is quite distinctive, there's a pleasant range of tracks on the album. 'The Monkey And The Lion' stands out with its upbeat energy, enhanced by the energetic beat provided by the band's signature Cajun drum. 'I Can Always Do It' is another of the cheerful tracks, with a catchy chorus melody and playful lyrics, while 'El Pastel' is a laidback, singalong-inducing song.
Though the upbeat tracks are enjoyable, the gentler songs provide the album's heart: my personal favourite track, 'Lonely Days', uses a combination of ukulele and soft vocals to create a gentle, uplifting feeling, with lines like 'We talked of only what made us laugh and cry, and I missed you,' creating a touching depth of sincerity. Another notable ballad is the bonus track, 'Hero', which communicates the band's more political messages in a heartfelt harmony of lyrics and acoustic guitar.
The production does take away some of the depth from some tracks, taking some of the punch from the percussion, but the vocals are clean and the overall sound is smooth. All in all, it's a very enjoyable album, with sufficient variety in tone and melody to bear multiple listenings, and a simple, uplifting style that makes me think the Brothers' sound would be very accessible to a broad range of tastes.