PAPER WINGS

PAPER WINGS
CLEMENTINE

No Label
No Number

The second album from Paper Wings features original songs from Wilhelmina Frankzerda and Emily Mann. The sound is old-time, interweaving the fiddle, banjo, and guitar in a percussive, yet melodic groove. The counter harmonies and vocal arrangements are intricate.

“Woods And Fields” is a farewell song told in seamless sister harmony. In “Sister,” we see women in difficult situations, where the only escape is to go down to the river bed, bathe in the cool water, and forget all our cares. In “Troubled Soul,” the singer is consumed with the effort of curing someone with her love, sharing his pain and breaking his fall.

“Dusty Eyes” is an ethereal, haunting, almost dissonant siren song. “As I Walk Down” is a loping, clawhammer-powered song that offers peace in a world with trouble all around as the singer walks down to the sea, where it’s just my Creator and me. A woman who leaves a path of emotional destruction behind her is described in “Winter Storm.” “Miss My Darlin’ So” and “Good Man” use repeating lyric patterns in the old-time style, and would be great dance numbers. “The Lonely One” is of someone who wakes every day to find her heart is hung out on the old clothes line…Sunday rain will wash away every stain and mark you made…I am not the loneliest I’ve ever been.

The design on Clementine is a cross-section of an orange, which is appropriate given the fresh zing of Emily and Wilhelmina’s music. Fans may recognize Wilhelmina as a member of Joy Williams’ band, The Civil Wars. Emily has performed with Darol Anger and Laurie Lewis, and she’s also a member of The Crooked Jades. Roots-based music often focuses on styles and stories from the past, but the women of Paper Wings carry tradition into the future with impressive talent and heart. (www.paperwingsmusic.com)NCW