Frencham Smith – Love Thongs

Frencham Smith – Love Thongs
Review by Ian Dearden

This is the second CD from the serendipitous pairing of Iain “Fred” Smith’s quirky songwriting and singing, with Liz Frencham’s exquisite vocals, jazz-tinged double bass and million dollar smile.
Fred and Liz receive sympathetic support from a wonderful range of musicians – most notably David Bridie on piano and Jonathon Lewis on violin and viola.
Fred’s songwriting targets include paens to the eternal road of the touring muso (“This Song”, “Have You Got A Heart”, “She Is My Song”, “All Alone”), wry observations on love lost and found (“Maryanne”, “Out There”, “Sexy Little Woman” – there is, perhaps not surprisingly, some overlap with the previous category), depression (“Beyond Blue”), and good times (“Sexy Bitchin’ Swamp Mama Blues”, “Chockabelly”).
What really impresses is the way in which Liz (who sings most, but not all the lead vocals) brings something extra special to the interpretation of the material (she has a hand in co-writing one of the songs).
In each case, she digs deep for that extra layer of authenticity, living the voice that she’s singing.
This is delicious, emotionally intelligent and entrancing folk music for the 21st century.
Here’s hoping that Fred and Liz continue to find time in their mutually busy schedules to squeeze out more albums like this.
For more information, go to www.fredsmith.com.au

About the artist: “Smith is a superb songwriter. Frencham has a voice with all the appeal, emotional honesty and clarity of someone like Shawn Colvin or Mary Chapin Carpenter. Yes, really, she is that good. There is no other folk duo in Australia which even comes close to this magical combination.” – Bruce Elder, Sydney Morning Herald