Description
Nick and Liesl first appeared on the Australian Scene with a track each on the Home Grown Roots compilation back in 2006. Since then they have relocated to the NSW Central Coast and recorded their debut EP ‘Wyong River’ .
With Liesl hailing from Sweden the pair have quickly established themselves as a fave on the coveted European Summer Festival circuit .
No strangers to the Australian live scene either the pair have been out on two East Coast tours and played numerous regional festivals and street fairs over the brief two year span along with extensive shows in and around the central coast leading to the title track “Wyong River”
An enchanting duo.
Two unique voices, flowing harmonies and captivating songs seem to bring Nick and Liesl a loving reception wherever they go.
Their distinctive sound is the coming together of two singer/songwriters with influences ranging from Nick’s love of Cat Stevens and James Taylor to Liesl’s classical songbooks and the folk music of her childhood home Sweden.
Although only two people, the pair present a sound that fills large theatres and small village churches alike.
Their stories are many and varied, as is their performance, with each switching between instruments along to the ever-present stomp box and tambourine.
Nick and Liesl – Feather
CD review by Tony Smith – TN178
TN1748-14 – $25
This 2011 album by Nick and Liesl might at first hearing seem like one for the younger set.
The tracks are love songs in one form or another and the vocal styles are suggestive of light popular music.
On further listening however, it becomes clear that the sensitive lyrics and the varied arrangements give Feather much broader appeal.
Nick Everitt (vocals, guitar and djembe) and Liesl Karlsson (vocals, piano and guitar) are supported by Pete Luscombe (drums, percussion), Jeff McCormack (bass guitar), Glen Hannah (guitars), Gary Steel) (keyboard, accordion), Fredrik Andersson (strings) and James Ward (mandolin).
Everitt wrote nine of these songs and Karlsson four.
‘Most of My Life’ is a light, slow acoustic track, led by Nick with Liesl singing an echo.
It struck me as a likely wedding song.
You can almost hear bells chiming in the background.
Liesl’s ‘Your Heart in My Hands’ has an interesting arrangement emphasising percussion, vocal harmony and bass backing.
It has an outdoor feel, the soundtrack of a pleasant outing.
‘Love and Affection’ kicks off with a drum and dance beat.
This song for me has the most memorable lyrics.
‘Nobody wants to be alone, love and affection, I wanna know when you’re coming home … I’m scared my heart is gonna turn to steel’.
Liesl’s ‘Feather’ begins with some gentle piano, but then builds into a complex orchestral arrangement.
Particularly impressive here is the way Nick comes in making the song into a round.
In ‘Silent Ships’, you can easily imagine Duke Ellington or another jazz blues player looking up from a piano.
Nick really channels the greats of the ragtime era in this one.
Especially relevant for musicians is ‘Sing Sing’ ‘I pick up my guitar and release the ache in song, song, sing’.
‘Mistakes Happen’ explains the philosophy that our backgrounds set us up for what comes later in life.
The song features a very nice electric guitar break.
‘Perfect people can pretend to be perfect but they can’t pretend it’s right’.
In ‘Leave This Town’, we hear of the leaves blowing down and the desire to escape the pressure.
‘It’s Better to Have Loved’ might be about broken hearts but it has a happy feel.
‘I need to give it time to find myself and the pain will surely end’.
It is her face that ‘Shines Like Gold’.
He might never be rich but he has found his treasure.
This one has a reggae feel.
Liesl’s ‘Witch’s Brew’ is a bluesy song with a gentle rocking rhythm.
She’s ready for you because she has her herbs and spices ready.
This one is full of allusions to angels’ harps, nectar and honey.
‘In Gaol’ is about a prison built on the anguish of love.
He’s in gaol when lying in bed wanting the light of day to come and free him.
The arrangement is upbeat with Liesl augmenting the sound with harmonies that would not be out of place in Motown.
Liesl’s ‘Does It Matter’ concerns trying, aiming for a goal and perhaps falling short.
But ‘failure does not mean disgrace’ if it makes you work harder and so become stronger.
Of Liesl’s tracks this has for me perhaps the most outstanding lyrics.
The standard in this album is uniformly high, but half a dozen songs are simply outstanding.
While these songs might have immediate appeal to younger listeners, they have lyrics and musical arrangements which take them beyond the limitations of the ephemeral pop genre.
This collaboration between Nick Everitt and Liesl Karlsson is a rare phenomenon indeed.
Ed. Nick and Liesl have two albums available for sale from the Trad&Now website.
Tracks from both of the albums may be heard from time to time on Trad&NowLive!
