The Sweet Lowdown is a trio of talented roots musicians from Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Chasing the Sun, their third album, is a thoroughly enjoyable affair. The group comprises Miriam Sonstenes, fiddle; Amanda Blied, guitar; and Shanti Bremer, banjo. All three write songs and tunes, and all three sing lead and harmony. Their music blends influences that include Appalachian mountain music, bluegrass, Celtic, Balkan and Nordic into a Canadian folk sound that’s all their own, modern but rooted in tradition.
The first three tracks are strong, and establish this trio’s bona fides. “River Winding Down” is a beautiful, slightly melancholy folk song inspired by the sight of a flooded city seen from the air. “Fallout” is a moody, portentous Celtic-style song inspired by the nuclear disaster across the sea at Fukushima, Japan, and concerns about radioactive flotsam crossing the Pacific. And the title track is a sweet Celtic fiddle tune with gossamer but sturdy playing by all three.
Digging a little deeper, though, you’ll find “The Birds & The Bees,” a cute, sexy love song by Blied, sung by her with sweet “Ooh-ooh” harmonies from the other two. To me it represents the whole enterprise, because this music could so easily be too saccharine-sweet, but it’s tempered with tiny touches of blue, tastes of bittersweet, twists of internal rhymes:
Flock of birds, hive of bees / Has anybody seen the keys to my heart / I think they’re on the ground. / We’d be good, if we could / But we can’t so we’re tangled / In lashes and lips and skin … Want to begin again.
“You Can Find The North” is a jaunty, sweet-sad song about finding your way in unfamiliar environments, using astronomy as a metaphor for your bearings:
And there’s a lot more, including a swell jig set with one by Bremer, one by Sonstenes and one they co-wrote; and two songs about the life of musicians on the road, an upbeat old-timey one called “Road Song” and a lovely slow, sad one called “Leaving,” an a capella mountain-style song with Sonstenes singing lead and harmony vocals from the others. I wish I had the space to show you the video of them on a sailboat singing the deep old-time song “Sail Away Ladies.” It’s available on YouTube. It’s clever and good and demonstrates their grounding in the American songbook.
The album is sharply produced by Adrian Dolan. The packaging is well designed and includes lyrics and credits and tunings. The Sweet Lowdown is the real deal, folk music that’s not derivative or tiresome. Look for them at a festival near you and keep track of them online.
(Self-released, 2014)
