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Review: 'Gypsyfingers'
'Circus Life'   

-  Album: 'Circus Life'
-  Genre: 'Folk' -  Release Date: '25th August 2014'

Our Rating:
Gypsyfingers are songwriter Victoria Coghlan and producer Luke Oldfield – who happens to be none other than Mike Oldfield’s son.

The solid beats that kick-start the first track, ‘This is the Way’ confound the expectations set by the band’s categorisations as purveyors of Cinematic Folk, Pop & Rock / Folktronica. That’s cool: surprises are good, especially when the song is layered with harmonies and a supple melody that possesses transportative powers.

And while ‘Circus Life’ slots nearly into the aforementioned stylisitic categories on many occasions, with no shortage of gentle, thoughtful songs led by acoustic guitar and with some sweet male / female vocal harmonies, there are enough surprises and switches of style to not only keep it interesting, but also to Gypsyfingers apart from their peers.

‘Circus Elephant’ starts out as a dark acoustic song, the picked guitar reminiscent of early Leonard Cohen but with vocals by Stevie Nicks, but then somewhere along the way, it creeps up and up and before you know it, a surging swell of brass and an almost choral vocal sweep has taken it somewhere else entirely. I believe ‘epic’ is the word here.

The lilting vocals and cadent piano of ‘Eating Me’ belies an underlying tension that tightens beneath a sparse guitar line and emotionally fraught lyrics. Brilliantly haunting, it’s definitely a highlight of an album that’s packed with magical little gems and evocative musical nuggets.

Gypsyfingers Online
  author: Christopher Nosnibor

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Gypsyfingers - Circus Life