Young Critic Review: WISE WOMAN
Wise Woman are three old friends inspired by the winter lockdown to make their long-time musical collaborations take formal shape. Through their work they describe their experience of womanhood and its historical context, music, friendship, folklore, nature, a sense of place, but most of all: love. Wise Woman have aptly named their new EP Threads, alluding to the threads that connect their vision, voices, instruments, souls- past, present and future.
The band consists of three voices, occasionally accompanied by the multitude of carefully curated instruments they played themselves: a guitar, keys, a hand drum, a baritone ukulele, and a shaker. But most importantly of all was the cello, which you could say was the fourth voice, uniting the sound. From the percussive plucking to the soaring bowed notes, the cellist added depth and power whenever it featured. As these sounds intertwined, the effect was of an ethereal, folky harmonic landscape which the beautiful acoustics of the church setting of The Hub at St Mary’s immersed the audience and allowed the colours of the music to emerge.
They played a selection of their own songs and others that had inspired them (like a piece from the film ‘O Brother Where Art Thou ‘- a favoured soundtrack). ‘Fen Woman’ brought to mind Swift’s ‘Waterland’ which portrays the inescapable influence of the natural landscape on our psyche. The layers that the cannoned harmonies created strengthened the power of when they sung together again, and the gradual ebb and flow of the dynamics reflected those of the tide. Contrastingly, ‘Storyville’ was inspired by a series of evocative photographs captured by E J Bellocq in 1900s New Orleans. The plucked bass notes on the cello seemed to provide the extra element of darkness that cemented it in its gritty American setting.
For me Wise Woman remind us that we all, especially women, apologise too often and their message embodies empowerment, inspiration and confidence whilst remembering the darker days of witch trials and antisemitism.
The performance was full of emotions (my mum was especially so during ‘Lay Low,’ which explores breaking ties), achieved through varied musical techniques. Alongside soaring vocals, the cello achieves this with folky double stopping, lightly sliding up and down the fingerboard creating an eerie and haunting sound and scrubbing with the bow to evoke tension and anticipation.
They say, “ourselves and our experiences, that’s what ties it all together,” and they perfectly brought every aspect of what it means to be alive into this joyous, wonderful afternoon.
By Esme B.
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