The Bollands – All Of My Ghosts (Monkey)

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Kiwi folk duo The Bollards continue to flex their musical muscle with this, their third album. All Of My Ghosts finds them trying out new sounds and production techniques while still keeping their songwriting personal and affecting.

Christian and Joyce Bolland spend a good portion a good portion of their time in Asia…they have taken up residence in Taiwan and Hong Kong. But this record was recorded in Auckland  at The Lab with the assistance of engineer Oliver Harmer and a few Kiwi session players such as trumpeter Finn Scholes.

Christian, who sings and plays guitar, is the chief songwriter in the act while Joyce play various keyboards and also vocalises.

Despite calling themselves a folk duo, that album begins with a big, expansive sound. Crosshairs is an urgent, surging anthem in ¾ time…sounding like something you’d hear Mumford And Sons fill a stadium with. Christian turns in an impressive vocal performance that matches the production.

But if that description sends up a few warning flairs, fear not…this is a record that has many sides to it.

The title track follows, powered by Joyce’s electric piano and an electronic dance beat. It’s looped percussion track and complex arrangement means this isn’t your father’s brand of folk music.

For those looking for something a bit more traditional, there’s Guilty, which begins with just guitar and voice…building up in intensity with Shimna Higgins’ fiddle playing bringing things home at the end.

Like all good folk music, there is a dark under current to Christian’s writing. Colourful Story addresses one person’s version of “the truth” verses another’s “alternative facts”.

I Used To Sleepwalk starts with some bright handclaps and keyboards before turning darker as the singer confesses, “I punched through a window just to get outside”.

The source of that darkness can perhaps be found in the song, Feilding, in which Christian addresses the five years he was part of a religious cult back when he was a teenager.

Meanwhile Joyce has her moment in the sun on Stare Into Space, in which she takes the lead vocal to list a few of her favourite…eating spicy food, watching HBO…and non-favourite…drunk guys staring at her…things. It’s totally endearing and I’d love to hear more from her.

The two voices join together for album closer, And Hold, a delicate, soothing acoustic tune that finishes the record off beautifully.

Marty Duda

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYRer5Hiiz4

 

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