Australia’s Angie Who is a children’s music artist, but her work sounds pretty grown up. Think Norah Jones or Reba McEntire, there are soulful stirrings and country gumption. On her latest album, Waltz Away, she decided to put the kids to bed and go for a night out on the town.
With songs that a kid wouldn’t understand, like the album opener, “The Lesson Of The Water Mill,” which is a musical interpretation of the poem by Sarah Doudney, she utilizes rural scenes to inspire her listeners not to let time pass them by. “Flows the ruffled streamlet on / tranquil deep and still / never gliding back again.” Her voice is husky and she scoops up the words like a water wheel. “The mill cannot grind / with the water that is past.” It puts that pang in the heart only a well-sung song can do, and makes you wonder if you’re letting your life pass you by.
The rest of the songs, Angie’s own creations are a little more heart heavy. Like the second track, “Nobody’s Daughter.” “I love the colour of your heart / But my heart is blue.” It’s a waltz, worthy of the album title, like all of the other tracks on the album, and the accompanying guitar is golden and sweet. You can see the influence of children’s music in the arrangement: the repetition, the sing-song melody. It must have been satisfying to embrace the maturity of Americana in her tracks here. She has the benefit of bringing that to her kids’ music, but this was an exercise in communicating the adult feelings in her heart.
The remaining tracks, “What The Heart Wants,” with its satisfying mandolin, and “Yours,” a sort of feminist anthem, find her singing her sadness and hope. “When the heart bleeds / it’s a messy thing.” Her magnificent voice in couched in stellar folky arrangements. It proves that Angie is not just a kids’ artist, but an artist in her own right. A short offering at 4 songs and fifteen minutes, it’s definitely worth your time.
Prism Reviews 