13/08/2012

Traces - Karine Polwart

Hegri Music

We recently ran an article lamenting the absence of a vital element of protest in music at the moment, we seem to be in an age when bland acceptance has sapped the energy to get to our feet and oppose things we feel wrong. Then along comes the new album from Karine Polwart, the first song of which tackles the bizarrely coiffured Donald Trump.

Trump has built a golf course in Scotland, the opening song Cover Your Eyes focusses upon the steamrolling tactics employed by Trump to get his vision built, whatever the cost. His project  ignored people, history and the environment and proved that the super rich employ the same tactics that their ancestors did, clearing away those pesky people who got in the way by living there.

The plaintive style of Polwart is perfect at getting under the skin of an issue, the sense of loss is palpably sad. Yet the  'Cruel hands and crooked hearts' are still at the mercy of the Scottish weather, the wind will still blow off the cold and hard North Sea and lash the golf course that was once a chain of dunes with cold rain. A hard rain summoned by Polwart to wash away this kind of greed.

Connections and community are at the heart of Polwarts songwriting, compassion defines her world. Listening to the album is very much like flicking through a photograph album; moments of personal history preserved in time, loved ones and lost ones look out at us - Polwart breathes life into them and produces a work of tranquil beauty.

http://www.karinepolwart.com/

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