Latest CD releases reviewed

MADISON VIOLET

No Fool For Trying True North Records ****

There is something magical about duets, the way the voices interlace to create a sound that is neither one singer nor the other but something else altogether. Canadian duo Madison Violet make it sound the easiest thing in the world, their voices blending as each backs up the other on these 11 self-penned, tear-stained tales of loneliness and life’s sorry harvest. Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsacc hail from Scottish stock, but on this, their third album, Madison Violet’s influences have an alt.Nashville twinge, with Neil Young not far away. Lee Cooper’s production allows the duo to fully realise the quality of their singing and writing, not least on the beautiful opener, The Ransom, the mysterious Hallways of the Sage or the pristine country pop of Crying. It’s all enough to make you drive to Belfast, Rathfriland or Omagh to catch them on tour next month. www.madisonviolet.com

Download tracks: The Ransom, Hallways of the Sage, Darlin'

AUSTIN LUCAS

Somebody Loves You  Suburban Home Records ****

What do American punk rockers do when they hang up their snarl? Some end up like Ohio-born Austin Lucas, wading into the deep of their mind in the guise of a backwoods loner with a slew of dark, intense songs at his mercy. The production on this collection may be a little rudimentary – his musician dad Bob did the honours – but Lucas is a remarkable singer and songwriter, burning with a passion and a rage that he has harnessed into 11 traditional-sounding tracks of rivetting honesty and naked emotion. His use of hymnal language – as on Shoulder or Resting Place – adds a curious depth, while the robust Pogues-like Farewell and the title track – his voice stretching to alto as he gets lost in the venom of his lyric – is contrasted by the soft vulnerability of Singing Man, Precious Little Heart and Fountain of Youth. www.austinlucasmusic.com

Download tracks: Somebody Loves You, Precious LIttle Heart, Singing Man