aaamusic | On 23, May 2011

Sparrow and the Workshop will be releasing their new album ‘Spitting Daggers’ on May 23rd through Distiller Records. The album was produced and mixed at the new recording studio, The Distillery, by Leo Abrahams (Brian Eno / Sam Amidon).
Spitting Daggers is an album that leaves the listener breathless thanks to Jill’s vocals and ethereal atmospheres that remind  Pj Harvey with a touch of folk charme. I mean, since the singer has Irish origins, you can definitely hear an Irisk folk atmosphere in some songs, for example in Soft Sound Of Your Voice, the last one and a worth end to a really stunning work.
Sparrow And The Workshop released their second album after the great debut Crystals Fall, and the best peculiarity is still Jill’s vocals, powerful and thin at the same time, whereas a difference is the attempt to be a little less folk. Pact to stay cold, the album opener, is still in a folk mood, reminding something of Nancy Sinatra, here guitars beat tempo together with drums, trying to follow Jill, while a forest atmosphere is given by the gentle intrusion of a flute.
You don’t trust anyone is one of the best pieces of this album, it’s darker and the voice is a bit distorted, with an irresistible refrain, while the verse time is beated by  fast-paced drums. Drums are very recognizable, Donaldson has a style that gives the band a personal mark, and it’s important inside a music scene where band can be easily confused.
The song that gives the title is not so brilliant like the following ones, for example Our Lady of the Potatoes has a ‘quid’ that makes it a cut above the rest. Inspired by a historical novel of the same name by Duncan Sprott- it’s a tale of Louis XV’s 14 year old Irish mistress, it features the trombone and the horn, played by Gregor and Nick themselves, and they lend the song a fairy tale flavour inside a rock groove.
Next three songs are pure gems, Faded Glory reveals all Jill bravura, she can modulate her voice like a nightingale, and the funky guitar on the background is the “freak” element that makes the tune as amazing as it is.
Snake in the grass is the first single taken from Spitting Daggers, it’s quite different from other tunes, it’s pure Cranberries style and it surprised me, because I didn’t expect it, but it works, and I think it’s perfect as a single, catchy enough to be remembered and to push people to listen to more.
Father look, the last of the trio, is made by a melody that cradles the listener like he’s floating on the sea, embellished by choirs and jingling bells who create a circus atmosphere.
In the last three songs, yes, this album can be divided in a 4-3-3 pattern, Against the Grain predominate in energy, but Soft Sound Of Your Voice is a pearl to end a work that confirm Sparrow and the Workshop as one of the most interesting bands of next years and I am sure their success will be estabilished in this festival season.

Author: Roberta Capuano