Karine Polwart - Scribbled In Chalk Album Review

Karine Polwart
Scribbled In Chalk
Shoeshine
Album Review

Oh look, another female singer-songwriter to join the legion that already plague the likes of Radio 2 throughout the day – forgive my lack of enthusiasm, it's just that they seem to be everywhere at the moment. To be fair to Karine Polwart, it's not as if she's jumped on the bandwagon – she's been in and around music for 25 years, having formed her first band at the tender age of 10. It's not her fault that record companies are now looking for the next Tunstall or Melua.

On researching Ms Polwart, you'll come across some impressive facts, like she has a Masters degree in philosophy, but closer to the subject at hand, she won three awards at the 2005 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. On listening to "Scribbled In Chalk", it's clear to see that she certainly fits into the genre, but surely even such a relaxed style of music can get more exciting than this? Practically every track is indecipherable from the others, and it makes for an album that is far from stimulating. Warm melodies and sweeping strings can be found in abundance, but tracks often fail to develop into anything that grabs your attention. "Hole In The Heart" suffers from being too long, as do other tracks, while the lyrics of "I'm Gonna Do It All" are boring.

The only track that makes any sort of positive impression is the jazz-enthused "Where The Smoke Blows", which leans toward funky pop. It benefits from a lifted tempo, and injects much needed life into the album, particular through the psychedelic electric guitar. This is as good as it gets though, which is a shame as Polwart actually has a crisp and sweet voice which reverberates with a lovely Scottish brogue – but the songs here do it no favours.

Alex Lai