SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: GOOD LOVELIES – B-SIDES

Good Lovelies
B-Sides
Fontana North

The Good Lovelies are Caroline Brooks, Kerri Ough & Susan Passmore, and they have been making music since 2007. B-Sides is their first E.P. of new music since their Christmas album, Evergreen (2019).

B-Sides showcases everything that is great about the Good Lovelies; incredible harmonies, strong melodies and overall great songs. Although the E.P. is new, the songs are not as these songs were originally written and recorded between 2015 and 2018. The band has updated the songs and we get the end result, three incredible songs.

Travel seems to be the theme for the three tracks. The opening song, “Blue Canoe” is about Brook’s brother-in-law working in Haiti following the devastating earthquake in 2010, working in disaster relief. The second song “Life On The Road” is about the push and pull desire of being on the road and wanting to be home. The third and final song, “Dawson” is about Passmore’s love of Dawson City.  Not that there is any value placed in travel but that it is essential. Each song demonstrates the need to be somewhere other than home.

“Blue Canoe” for instance has the wonderful and poignant line, “Should I cook up a feast or rubble the concreteI can’t seem to find a way to plant my feet”. Whereas in “Dawson” they sing “When I go, lay me down in Dawson. Make my bed by the Dome, up in the Yukon”. Again, necessary trips.

The music fits perfectly with the lyrics. Folk music with other influences weaving their way through the music, especially in the song “Life On The Road”, which seems to be pulling in from many musical directions. And it works.

The Good Lovelies, to me, have always been the current day Roches. Perhaps, not as quirky, but the same sensibility and honesty. B-Sides is a great E.P. but far too short. It certainly leaves the listener wanting more, and I do wish there were a few more songs. If these three songs are an indication of the quality of music in their vault, I think it is time to open it up and let the songs sing out.

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