Sadie & Jay – Rogue Folk

25 October, 2017

The soundtrack for my commute to and from work over the past couple of weeks, as well as my seemingly interminable trip to Norway, has been “Rogue Folk”, the exquisite second album from Sadie and Jay (Sadie Jones and David “Jay” Penman). Produced and recorded by guitar virtuoso Michael Fix at his Parklands Studio in suburban Brisbane, mastered by David Neil at The Refinery, and featuring the cream of Brisbane instrumental folk talent, this is a superb, gorgeous, varied and entrancing album.

The 11 original co-authored tracks feature Sadie on vocals, double bass and piano, Jay on vocals, guitars and banjo, with instrumental contributions on various tracks from Michael Fix on guitars, banjo and “magic” (he’s provided dollops of that, I suspect), Suzanne Hibbs on percussion, Rebecca Wright on cello, Carmel Newman on fiddle, Donald McKay on bodhran, Matthew Moline on harmonica, Ian Dixon on squeezebox and Uthal Plantener on washboard. The cover art features an enchanting original painting by Chris Hall.

The album opener, “The Hero of Waterloo” name checks the famous Sydney pub, built at The Rocks with convict labour in 1843 – but it’s actually a tribute to the pub’s long time piano player. “Rogue Folk”, the title track, recounts the history of marginalisation of vagabonds, gypsies and, of course, rogues. “Publicly Transported” commences, both lyrically and musically, as a classic transportation ballad, but rapidly morphs into a delicious piss take on the perils of enforced patronage of contemporary public transport when your car has been dinged!! The (almost) accapella “Song Already Written” is heartbreakingly enthralling (musically) while simultaneously challenging our collective stewardship of this precious planet we inhabit. “Leaving The Nest” is a heartwrenching but gently familiar paeon to the conflicted emotions confronting parents whose children head out into the big wide world, with the bonus of gorgeous fiddle from Carmel Newman.

Sadie and Jay were both (like many Australians) born elsewhere, but have found themselves fascinated by this country’s unique “Red Red Dirt” – a love song to Australia which features fabulous harmonica from Matthew Moline and evocative percussion from Suzanne Hibbs, and is currently #2 in the AMRAP regional charts. In a delightful contrast, “Bounce” eases its jazz-inflected observations on love and relationships into your consciousness with an engaging and soulful lead vocal from Sadie. “Long Way From Lost” features Jay’s skilled and tasteful fingerpicking underpinning yet another delicious but understated lead vocal from Sadie with superb and supportive backing vocals from Jay. Sadie’s piano sits front and centre in “Window” with again another gorgeous vocal that floats effortlessly over the sympathetic instrumentation, in particular the delicious nylon string guitar playing (from either Jay or Michael – it’s not clear who is playing on this track). The crackle of vinyl underpins the first few bars of Jay’s banjo picking in the waltzy love song “I Want To Play”, before we slide into the crackle free 21st century substance of the song, then with a neat symmetry, the banjo plays out over the return of the crackling vinyl. I’m sure there’s a metaphor lurking there somewhere!! Then, to wrap up the album, we get a delightful and bitchy dialogue between Jay and Sadie, with claim and counterclaim, each asserting a failure on the part of the other to “Take Me Seriously”. Not sure who’s going to win that argument, but collectively, Sadie and Jay are both winners with this album!!

Just in case I haven’t been clear enough, this is a superb album, featuring terrific song writing, great production, gorgeous and sympathetic arrangements, all in the context of an album arc that holds you spellbound from start to finish. In addition, I can vouch for the fact that these songs work well in a stripped down duo format, having had the delight of mixing Sadie and Jay in their Folk at the Friary appearance last Saturday night, when they wowed the crowd with a commanding and breathtaking performance!! You can find out more and buy the CD (featuring superb artwork) at sadieandjaymusic.com, or download a digital copy of the album from the usual suspects including iTunes and CDBaby.