UK-based duo Two Ways Home have released their debut album ‘Break the Silence‘ after an incredible response to their crowdfunding campaign. We review the album and reveal our stand-out tracks.
Two Ways Home are so imbedded in the UK country music landscape that it would be hard to imagine the scene without them. Over the years, they’ve made their mark known through the festival scene and at their writers’ round The RoundUp that has become a rite of passage for new artists. They have earned a support base so significant that their debut album, released today, was crowdfunded in its entirety by friends and fans who wanted to see them succeed. The album feels like a labour of love, from start to finish in the thought and craft that have gone into the project, enabling them to tie an incredibly diverse body of work together seamlessly.
Album opener, ‘Broken Hearts Club’ is a fun and jaunty track many will be familiar with who have seen the duo live over the years. Released for Valentine’s Day, the track reads as an anthem for the broken-hearted ‘do you think about them all night… acting like you’re alright / It hits you when you close your eyes’, leading in with a driving guitar track and Fowler’s signature vocal. Obadia’s production is a masterstroke here, letting both Fowler and Mariee’s distinctive vocals sing, before a meaty guitar solo and Fowler’s distorted vocals, ensuring the track is given a distinctly quirky and alternative spin. This, in essence, is the magic of Two Ways Home – their ability to revert the stereotype of ‘country’ and ‘Americana’ imbibing other genres to carve their own path.
Personal favourite track, ‘Speed of Anything’ follows it up. Mariee’s vocals soar here, with a pure tone that is mesmerising. The track looks at a new relationship with honesty, avoiding the need to rush but just be happy in its current state and moment. ‘You’ve been telling me to take it slow, maybe we will or maybe we won’t / Don’t think about it too much now, put your hands on me let me show you how.’ Simply stunning, the track has an uplifting power, just skirting the edge of ‘cheese’ (as Mariee herself conceded), Obadia avoids this again through the alternative, differentiated production. ‘Break the Silence’ details the need to admit when chemistry exists. ‘The future’s in the palm of your hands.’ The duo’s harmonies are simply stunning in this track, and is one of the strongest vocal moments on the record, ebbing and flowing over each other, feeling like a twin track to ‘Speed of Anything.’
‘Out On the Road’ definitely changes the tempo of the record up to a more jaunty 60s country feel. This is perhaps the most classically ‘country’ track on the record, yet is refreshed with Two Ways Home jaunt that feels nostalgic. It was their quickest track to write, and the ease of this is reflected in the sentiment of the song that flows with ease. Another crowd favourite track is succeeding track – ‘Tattoo.’ Inspired by a trip to Vegas and seeing a woman covered in tattoos, ‘Tattoo’ talks about the stories told on a person’s body covered in tattoos. ‘Whatever it is that life gave to you, there’s a tattoo.’ The duo’s harmonies are glorious here, driven by stellar production. Having heard this live many times, Obadia has accomplished something special, breathing fresh life into the track and new focus to the lyrics.
In their Q&A at their album launch party, Mariee conceded that ‘Standing Still’ was her favourite track on the record (after much deliberation). The track heralds in a more rocky moment on the record, and though it feels like new territory for the band, they also feel wholly fitting and comfortable in this groove that is continued in ‘Prove Me Wrong.’ This last is welcomed with the deep bass of Fowler’s vocal enhanced by vocoder. This is by a country mile (pun intended) the rockiest track on the album, and is swaggering and dark in tone and content, asking a lover to prove that they really have moved on ‘You look happy with your hand in his pocket / But I know you have my picture in your locket.’ Personally, this is the strongest sonic moment in the record, both in production and tone, the driving guitar and drum beat and backing vocal are a stroke of genius and result in a hugely complex and formidable track, that feels both immensely nostalgic and hugely current.
‘Nostalgia’ offers another sublime moment for Mariee’s vocals to soar. Written with Katy Hurt and Gab Zsapska, the track questions the reality of nostalgia, whether we are looking back to a time that even existed, simultaneously asking how people will perceive the time we are in now. The result is a powerfully contemplative moment on the record, that is echoed in final track ‘The Ocean.’
Penultimate track ‘Conquer the World’ is another stand-out moment on the album, another moment where the duo’s harmonies are allowed to breathe and accomplish their full potential. The track feels like a manifesto on the duo’s ambition, sonically this track could lead them out to new territory and make their mark further on the musical landscape.
The pair have always managed to carve out their own space in the UK country genre and this album is no exception. The record covers so much ground both sonically and lyrically that it is almost unfathomable for this to be their debut. They have accomplished the near impossible by completely breathing new life into tracks that are well-known on the UK country circuit, and providing an utterly diverse sonic diversity. It is to be hoped that the new album is due to welcome a new era in the duo’s musical success – it is more than deserved.
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Editor’s Picks
Prove Me Wrong
Speed of Anything
Conquer the World
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