Kent folk duo follow up two impressive EP releases with a beautiful debut.
Paper Verses are a folk duo based in Broadstairs, Kent. Simone Lincoln and Matt Evans have released their debut full-length collection following two well-received EPs. Three of the songs from their Life Lines EP are included here, along with a further three from the Promises collection.
Recorded at Big Jelly Studios in Ramsgate and engineered and mixed by Michael Collins, this traditional English folk album is an impressive first outing. Opening with a beautiful cacophony of birdsong, A Song For Life welcomes us with a song inspired by nature’s splendour. The guitar is striking, and it carries through the set. Evans’ flat-picking style is complemented by Lincoln’s confident and soaring vocals. We could compare her to many of the great female folk singers; however, her voice is her own and has a sonic quality that will please the many folk fans amongst us.
There is a lovely flow to All The Time That Sails By, in that you can feel a sense that life moves on whether we like it or not, and all we can do is enjoy what we have. The guitar intro fades in, and the richness of it all is simply gorgeous, as Lincoln soothes us with her vocal refrain, “Because the girl you once were fades away / And you struggle to recall /All the time that sails by before your eyes”. A feeling many can relate to.
Life and How To Live It is a little more powerful, with a driving acoustic start along with harmonica. Lincoln’s voice in the chorus is dazzling as she raises it higher. The harmonica re-joins the piece near the end over the urgent guitar. It is a pleasant variation on the time-honoured feel of the previous tracks.
The House Always Wins has an almost Appalachian feel to it as a violin rakes over the opening bars. Evan’s joins in with harmony vocals, which work really well. A song based on life choices and how, as time goes on, it is harder to change where you are or what you are doing. As the violin keens its way back into the song, the music fades, and we transition into the title track Windstill, with some impressive guitar work. This is possibly one of the standout moments on the record and is cleverly done. “So let’s get a move on, let’s make a start / With lungs full to bursting and love in our hearts”, sings Lincoln.
The album closes with the striking Forever To Be Young. It concludes with the theme that has run through the whole collection: growing old and wondering where all the time went. If only we could find out who stole it. Paper Verses have created a collection that will delight lovers of English folk music. Traditional, with enough variation to keep things interesting, particularly in the closing half of the set. Lincoln’s classically trained voice fits the music perfectly, and you can hear the influence of English and American folk in Evans’ guitar playing. It will be interesting to see how the duo evolve in the future.
