Marilla Homes – Inner Whirl

CD Review by John Williams

Marilla Homes is a talented artist and this fifteen track CD shows that talent in a variety of genres.

Marilla sings beautiful traditional ballads mixed with songs by contemporary artists such as James Keelaghan’s ‘Cold Missouri Waters’ and Willie Nelson’s ‘Crazy’ in which she teams with Tony Hargreaves on piano and Dan Bourke on violin to create an interesting version of this wonderful classic.

Marilla has a fine trained voice having sung with the Victorian Opera and the Melbourne City Opera.

The CD opens with a beautiful rendition of ‘Black is the Colour’. It is a great opening track as it leaves you wanting to hear more. Another beautifully rendered traditional track was ‘Death of Queen Jane’ in which she pairs with Marty Kelly to create a memorable duet.

The list of great traditional songs continues with ‘Factory Girl’, Ever the Winds’ (a beautiful Irish ballad), Johnny Be Fine’ (a performance of this song won Marilla the Frances Folk Gathering Open Vocal Award in 2011), ‘Raglan Road’, ‘Pretty Fair Maid’ (an upbeat toe tapper), and ‘Parting Glass’.

These diverse traditional songs are given fine treatment by Marilla and her backing artists.

An interesting track is ‘When I Was’ by Mandy Connell. Marilla harmonises beautifully with the writer, Mandy Connell, surely the ultimate accolade when someone asks you to sing their song with them. Another fine track was ‘Black Coffee’ a jazz track which once again shows off Marilla’s vocal skills.

Marilla is also accompanied on the CD by Russell McKenzie on guitar. The album notes don’t say whether Russell McKenzie or Marty Kelly are playing on each track. Whoever plays on any of the tracks doesn’t really matter as the guitar work blends very well with Marilla’s vocals.

I have no hesitation in recommending this CD. It showcases a talented performer in a number of genres and would appeal to most listeners.