Moenie and Kitchi

Until now, New York folk outfit Gregory and the Hawk had no label and no manager, with the only constant since 2003 being the stunningly sweet voice of Meredith Godreau, so syrupy and textured that it causes each lyric to caramelise in the ear. Blow-in band members featured on the first EP ‘Boats and Birds’, rotating again for the debut album ‘In Your Dreams’, and while both works have been well received, with their latest offering ‘Moenie & Kitchi’ there is a greater sense of harmony that emanates instantly at first listen.

‘Oats We Sow’ sets a steady pace as the opening track; an uncomplicated pop song in danger of bordering on generic if it weren’t for Godreau’s luscious vocals. Hopes that there is better to come are soon justified. The guitar-strumming simplicity of ‘August Moon’ is nothing short of beguiling, and the beat heavy ‘Voice Like a Bell’ immediately draws you in with a melodious hook and the gentle crashing of drums. Just beyond the halfway mark, the album climaxes with ‘Stone Wall Stone Fence’, a subtle and delicate song with unpretentious yet effective lyrics that are as suggestive and haunting as Godreau’s high pitched voice: “Big open land, you hold the weight of the air in your hands…You’ve got a secret but you won’t share it.” A cacophonous instrumental provides the punctuation to the song, with short bursts of electric guitar and percussion cutting jagged edges around the alternating acoustic arrangement.

Four songs to go and ‘Moenie & Kitchi’ begins to wind down, but it does not fall apart. ‘Super Legend’ continues on the theme of cute, with the lulling power of a sleeping tablet and a glass of wine, it tugs at your eyelids with the temptation of dreams. Then follows ‘Harmless’, the least potent of the eleven tracks at first, until the poignancy and rawness of it’s bare sound uncover on closer inspection. A mild pang of disappointment sets in as ‘Two-Faced Twin’ begins with the realisation that what was an enjoyable, if slightly uneventful album will simply fade out after half an hour rather than end with a bang. However, taste buds are already tickled and senses stirred, and with Fat Cat Records behind them, GATH have a bright future. How could they not when Meredith Godreau has the Midas touch; her mellifluous voice could coat anything in sugar, and turn the blandest of songs into lemon drops.