SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: RAINE HAMILTON – BRAVE LAND

RAINE HAMILTON
BRAVE LAND
INDEPENDENT

Chamber folk never really became a sub-genre in itself. Usually, artists that pick up on that concept, and quite a few did go that route, usually have a song or two on their albums that can fall within that category.

But what happens when an artist decides to do a concept chamber folk album and devotes that concept to the mountains? Sounds like quite a risky proposition, one that has a bigger chance to fail (or be quite boring) than to come up with some intriguing music.

So here comes an artist from Winnipeg, a singer songwriter who decided to employ a chamber string trio and devote the concept to mountains. It is Raine Hamilton (they/them) and their album is Brave Land.

Actually, there are quite a few brave things going on here and Hamilton comes out fully unscathed, from their songwriting, from the lyrical concept of the songs, to the vocals and excellent instrumentation that keeps the music alive throughout.

One of the reasons the string arrangements work so well may lie in the fact that Hamilton is a schooled violinist and musicologist, their specialty in medieval music coming to the fore on “Dominae Sancte”.

Still, throughout the album, the varying, high-quality songwriting and exquisite performances are what make this album and its concept really work.

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