13th Floor Album Preview: Tall Folk – Wiser

Tall Folk are self-described as a pair with “long limbs and swirling harmonies,” and are comprised of Jack Ringhand, whose roots are in the Midwest of the US and Lara Robertson who hails from Dunedin. What this collection Wiser (recorded by Tom Bell of Port Chalmers Recording Service) offers is a refreshing blend of harmony-based original compositions backed by first class musicians.

The ‘tall’ of their name most literally references the physical build of Jack and Lara, but also implies a something of a birds-eye view of the world in their lyrics.  There are numerous great songs here but two of the most potent on Wiser are the bookends.

Empire, a slow and deliberate opener is backed with an appropriately mournful violin and offers an emphatic retort to warmongering. Its message is in the tradition of Woody Guthrie, John Prine or Bruce Cockburn: “I’ll be damned if I die in that empire/at the wheels of a war machine/Don’t you claim my name on your firearms/sent to the Middle East”. Rather than strident, however, these words are sung with longing and persuasiveness. Is this Jacks lamenting the militarism of his homeland? We can only guess as the song isn’t preachy.

At the other end of the collection is another slow and wistful song: the title track, Wiser. Lara takes the lead. With clipped word-endings, her vocals are beautifully reminiscent of Nadia Reid (the Port Chalmers connection, maybe?). She sings with a gorgeous solemnity “‘Take a look around you/ …your time will come/just wait for it/ when you’re wiser”.

In between there are other gems. Dani feels like an anguished but gorgeously sung update on the classic Jolene them. Westward has Jack singing of travelling – presumably his move from the US to NZ. Angelina offers a bouncy joyful style suggestive of another Kiwi folk duo, Tattletale Saints.

Could be Worse could almost be a cover of one of Leonard Cohen’s more ironic songs, especially with the line ‘even David had his fling’.  But it isn’t. Instead, the song is yet another beautifully crafted Tall Folk songs. And if the opener, Empire, felt a bit politically heavy for anyone, listeners can find cheeky lyrics that link picking tunes and noses in the song Take One.

Tall Folk have superb musicians playing on their recording including, among other instruments, pedal steel, mandolin, and violin. These add, at various times, folk, bluegrass and country flavour.

Wiser offers the first full-length collection by an exciting pair of voices and song writers on the ever-expanding Aotearoa folk scene. I for one dearly hope they are on the programme of a number of next year’s folk festivals.

Robin Kearns

Check out Tall Folk on Facebook.

Click here to listen to Empire from Wiser: