Reviews of Roses At The Top
FATEA
Once upon a time there was a duo named Pooka (active on the Manchester scene), who conjured some of the most seriously enchanting yet haunting and sometimes quite formidably disturbing music of the 90s. When Sharon Lewis and Natasha Lea Jones went their separate ways, it was a couple of years or so before either of them got around to releasing another record. Sharon's home-recorded solo debut, The Hour Lilies, appeared in 2004. Sadly, a copy never came my way, but from what I recall hearing it made capital of simple, uncluttered arrangements that allowed her voice to breathe the intimate vision of her songs unobscured by extraneous then-fashionable soundscapes. On the evidence of that disc's close-on-a-decade-later followup, Roses At The Top, that same modus operandi still holds true for Sharon today, albeit with an enhanced degree of accomplishment and confidence (and restraint) that's clearly informed by her activities during the intervening years, one key experience of which was performing in Ana?s Mitchell's landmark folk-opera Hadestown.
Sharon's new album charts the progress of her psyche as it climbs, transforming itself through stages of pensive reflection, to a realisation that roses do after all grow at the top of the mountain of self-knowledge. It's a metaphor that could so easily sound trite or laboured, but such is the skill of Sharon's word-painting that the emotional honesty of her imagery enables us to share, and empathise closely with, life-struggles that prove common to us all, with promise and desire giving rise to trust and hope.
Sharon's expressive voice is in brilliantly captivating form, conveying both the vulnerability and strength of her resolve and naturally employing her trademark gentle, fragile near-vibrato. And although she engages a full dozen musician friends in support, the various instrumental colours are unfailingly intelligently deployed and with unerring sensitivity.
The journey starts out in intense yearning with the close, touching (in both senses) memory of In That Way, its commanding piano chordings speckled with almost subliminal keening pedal steel and only at the end introducing the bittersweet consolation of clarinet and muted trumpet. On Kings And Queens, the pleading fairytale wishes of those who are weary and forsaken summon forth reflections (in both senses), leading to realisations which bring a new-found defiance that is however ambivalent, even in fulfilling its own inner promise. The theme of awakening - or at least waking up - is then taken forward quite literally on the chirpy, playful Morning Song, ostensibly cheery and breezy but with a distinct ironic overtone of drowsy na?vete, rather like being brought out of a nice dream into the bluesy yet in the end welcome realism of Sweetheart and then into the Waiting Game, which (again through expression of ambivalent or contradictory feelings) provides an early hint of the final flowering of the dreamt-of rose through catchy repetition of received cliché in its choruses. Then, at the album's core, the intensely tender, regretful Those Blues forms a kind of emotional turning-point; this is followed by the knee-jerk, breathy questioning of Sweet Little Lie and the undeniably positive outlook of You Heal Me (perhaps the album's most lushly scored track, with piano, harp, strings, flute and multi-tracked backing vocals), which together enable the final climb to the hard-won summit of self-acceptance that forms the gospel-flavoured apex of the album's title song. The seed has been planted there, and the roses will grow henceforth for all to find - thorns and all, as the concluding, enigmatic and slightly sinister Birds Of Prey rather hints (for all that its closing stanza resolutely proclaims "joy is the only song"). Even so, there's no question in my mind that Sharon's hope for the album, "that it brings healing and comfort to those people who find themselves halfway up the mountain searching for the roses", is abundantly fulfilled; the lasting impression is of a revelatory, and inspirational, experience.
Finally, as if the music and songwriting were not in themselves already a sumptuous feast for the ears and mind, visually the whole CD package is intensely attractive too, the artwork so vividly drawn you can almost smell the perfume of the roses that entwine themselves all over its canvas and inside your very being. Truly unforgettable.
David Kidman
Female Arts
Having just listened to Sharon Lewis' new solo album - Roses At The Top - I've been sat here, since it finished, staring at a blank screen for far longer than can possibly be considered as socially acceptable (I don't know in actual terms how long that is, but I'd hazard a guess at shorter than the 20 minutes I've been staring). Apparently, Sharon Lewis has left this writer almost without words...
I've listened to this album twice now and, the first time I was lovingly guided through Lewis' delicate journey of intimate expression, I was immediately confronted with thoughts of early Kate Bush. Like or dislike Bush, it matters not (personally, I think she's quite good), but Lewis' voice has the same child-like, innocence Bush's has always carried; like a familiar face in a room of strangers, and this creates with it such an earthy, uncanny atmosphere, you can't help but revel in the shivers this will kindly offer you.
Listening to Lewis' music, I felt like she was embracing me - secure and deeply appreciated - similar to that feeling you get only when you tell a best friend a top-secret secret, because only she will understand the sheer mountainous importance of the article to you. But, no, really it was more than that. Really it was an exchange of secure, appreciated, top secret secret embraces. Her words seemed to get under my skin and understand the darkest corners of my emotions and, listening to her, I felt like she was allowing me to understand the same of her. I don't know how she did it. But I'm so glad she did.
Experiencing Roses At The Top, it's clear that Lewis has taken influence from many different genres - Kate Bush aside - but these eclectic influences don't force themselves upon you like Green Day's later stuff - let's face it, as amazing as they are, listening to a late Green Day album is as confusing as a mallet to the head, is it Rock or Pop or... What? - for example. There may be traces of Jazz and Pop to Lewis' album, but these influences are carefully and thoughtfully woven into Lewis' own, unusual, laid-back style.
Personally, I fancy myself as a bit of a poet; I like to think that one day I'll be the next William Blake (although I can't paint) and some days I like to think I'm quite good. Today, as I listened to Roses At The Top, was not one of those days. Lewis' words speak so vividly of what it means to be loved, to experience loss, to offer yourself, on every possible level, to another person and the vulnerability that accompanies such simple acts of intimacy, they are nothing less than beautiful. In That Way was my particular favourite - making me sob like a baby without a mother but taking me warmly by the hand and showing me that that is ok.
Sharon Lewis - Roses At The Top - is fragile, intimate, poetic, beautiful. Yet, none of those words come close to doing it justice. Roses At The Top is an experience everyone has to go through. It's like breaking up with your first love and realising that such pain has only served to make your stronger. It's like... With Sharon Lewis, everything's going to be ok. With a hint of Kate Bush.
Sophie Porter, 2013
Roots And Branches
Formerly one half of folk duo Pooka, although she’s variously collaborated with the likes of Orbital, 1 Giant Leap, The Climbers album The Good Ship and Anais Mitchell, it’s taken her nine years to get round to her sophomore solo album. Largely arranged for piano with the occasional flourish of trumpet, woodwinds, strings, harp and pedal steel its constructed around songs of searching, longing and transformation, about love and, notably in the title track, self-discovery with Lewis’ sweet, clear feathery tones floating over the soothing soundscapes.
Her imagers encompass roses, cornflakes, breakfast in bed, cherry stones, leaves, and birds, but while still within the same pastoral pastures as Pooka, this is almost the opposite of their dank, goblin folk. Gentle, calm and soothing, her voice quivering over emotional notes, things like In That Way, the languidly bluesy Sweetheart, the folk hymnal tones of Kings And Queens and Waiting Game with its soaring pop chorus balanced against the reflective verses all have a caressing touch that encourages you to lie back and soak up the sounds. Blooming good.
Mike Davies
AAA Music
Acclaimed English songwriter Sharon Lewis, an earthy and intimate musician, lives in Brighton in the UK. Once part of folk duo Pooka, she’s also collaborated with Orbital, 1 Giant Leap, The Climbersand Anais Mitchell.
Her new solo album Roses at the Top, released on 25th November, 2013, is the result of much dedication and eclectic influences. These are songs about love, change, searching, yearning and discovery, accompanied by pastoral images of leaves, birds, roses and cherries. Mostly arranged for piano, there are many other instruments: flute, harp, trumpet, cello, guitar, violin, mandolin, clarinet, ukulele and harmonica.
‘In That Way’ ,a search for knowledge and acceptance, is followed by the spiritual folk hymn ‘Kings And Queens’. The cheerful and colourful ‘Morning Song’ reveals a lighter side to getting up on a cold morning, whilst the relaxed, bluesy and tender ‘Sweetheart’ is poetic and catchy. ‘Waiting Game’, with its rousing chorus, has thoughtful and reflective verses.
Sharon has a singing style which appears calm, gentle and expressive but also fragile and delicate. When she sings there’s almost a childish innocence about her and the minimal production helps draw attention to the soothing, emotional lyrics. Gradually you find yourself taken higher and the climb to find the smell of ‘roses at the top’ feels worthwhile.
★★★★★Anthony Weightman
Eugenie Arrowsmith – Big Chill Label Manager/Artist
Sharon Lewis launches her second album 'Roses at The Top' on Dec 7th at The Unitarian Church. Sharon has mastered the art of being poetic, and whimsical without being saccharine. I should resist, I should be cynical but Sharon brings new meaning to the term mesmerizing, her delicate voice is truly out of this world. Her lyrical openness and flower child harmonies are achingly beautiful, a brilliant, confident second album.
The Argus - Band Of The Week / 13th December 2013
Last weekend saw Sharon Lewis launch her new album Roses At The Top at Brighton’s Unitarian Church.
Formerly one half of Manchester duo Pooka, which signed to Warner Brothers and released four albums over the space of a decade, Sharon released her first solo album The Hour Lilies in 2006.
The release led to an invitation to work with Faithless’s Jamie Catto on his solo project 1 Giant Leap. Since then, Lewis has also collaborated with The Leisure Society’s Nick Hemming, and starred alongside Ani Di Franco and Martin Carthy in Anais Mitchell’s folk opera Hadestown, which premiered at the 2011 Celtic Connections Festival.
Lewis’s self-produced second album, which was released last month, is based largely around piano and her vocal, with occasional flourishes of strings, trumpets and pedal steel.
“The lyrics are very important and I didn’t want them to get lost in the music,” says Lewis. “My hope for the album is that it brings healing and comfort to those people who find themselves halfway up the mountain searching for the roses.”
It is accompanied by a new EP called 'Simple Things'.
Reviews of Sharon's music
Sharon's songs are so beautiful, it's like they came out of the ground, what I mean is it's like they arrived fully formed because they could not be any other way, and what I love is that they are such a unique emotional expression of her's, but they are really every person's songs, I mean anyone can place themselves inside them. I am a big fan.
by Anais Mitchell
Reviews of The Hour Lilies (Sharon's debut album)
CD Baby
After touring the world and releasing four albums with the female duo, Pooka, queen of melody, Sharon Lewis, shows off her solo writing, her charm and magical touch for subtlety and nuance. The Hour Lilies is a breathtaking, stunning album- the type that finds you with your eyes closed, head bowed, breathing deep and slow. With a balanced feel for the reserved, dreamy qualities as well as clarity and direction, her songs all contain a flowering quality, a mesmerizing haze of exquisite feeling. Highly recommended.
Music Maker Magazine
Listening to Sharon Lewis's first solo record is like stepping into a waking dream in which birds and butterflies flutter around your ears, telling you secrets and whispering sweet tales of life at the bottom of the garden.
As one half of the acclaimed duo Pooka, Sharon cut a series of genre defining records that won her global recognition as a songwriter of panache and vision and a singer of crystal-cut clarity. For The Hour Lilies, Sharon has gone right back to basics, and the transition has paid off. This is a classy, 9-song debut that sparkles with linguistic wit and integrity and transcends the norm with breathless ease. April Fool‚ which darkly celebrates honesty and its trappings, pulls you effortlessly into Sharon's melancholic world and offset by the resonant cello, her voice appears angelic and guiding. Indeed, Sharon seems to want to give us all a big hug because the world's so tough and nasty. "It's ok to be a lost soul", she sings on Lost Soul‚ "put your head down and I'll let you sleep". The churlish among you may dismiss these sentiments as cute or even patronising, but Sharon's poetic phrasing and delicate voice unravel the cynic within and disarm those thoughts. She's right of course, the world really is nasty, and most of us could do with more hugs. Sparsely punctuated by bass, drums and the soaring flute of Ian Price, Leaving on a Ship‚ is a fine allegorical lament for lost love. Using the analogy of pulling away from England on a ship, she reminds us how our perceptions of situations change the further we become removed from them, it's the albums most powerful statement and it's one of those songs that stays with you after one listen. On Avaddon‚ (destruction), she shifts her perspective to tackle the feelings of hurt and resentment that follow infidelity. Unafraid to describe her bitterness, she transcendently surmises that "deceit, breeds deceit" and reminds us that revenge is never really sweet if it's taken against someone we love or once loved.
The Hour Lilies is a fragile and beautiful record. Sharon is an artist who has clearly stepped out of the shadow of her former success and taken a step forward in her evolution as a songwriter. Her extraordinary ability to make the personal universal is what makes her special. Throughout the album she tells you things that you feel are for you alone, secrets, lies, whispers and myths. There is so much strength in this music, hiding behind paper-thin masks of fragility and delicateness. It's a dualism that makes her work nothing less than vital.
by Jonny Wright
Musical Discoveries
Sharon Lewis was one half--the other half being Natasha Jones--of the UK-based duo Pooka who made three albums and one further limited edition CD in the decade following their debut in 1993. Pooka's music ignored much of accepted songwriting convention, the pieces often being linear in form, and featured some of the most inventive vocal harmony yet commited to little silver discs.
They soaked up influences like sponges and then totally corrupted them to their own unique view of the world. Pooka albums were never anything less than fascinating, full of the unexpected and sometimes the originality was breathtaking. Lyrically they could range from the blatently obvious to the completely obscure, often via the utterly profound. And they weren't afraid to venture into the sexually explicit either. They just wrote as they felt.
The Hour Lillies (2004) is Sharon's first release since the duo went their separate ways. It can be looked upon as a nine track EP as it lasts for barely thirty minutes and it is sheer bliss. The simple, at times almost minimalist, arrangements of the pieces are designed to throw the spotlight onto the songwriting and Sharon's voice--such a change in a world where the norm is for desperate over-arrangement to hide the weakness of the writing.
These pieces are filigree things, fragile and beautiful. Most feature Sharon on keyboards and guitars, and further subtle shades of light and dark are provided by Andy Nice who weaves mysterious cello lines on the opening two songs, "April Fool" and "Lost Soul," Scott Smith, who blows a subdued harmonica on "Old Man Young Town," and Ian Price who adds a distant flute and sax to "Leaving On A Ship." That track and "Avaddon (destruction)" also feature drums and bass, the latter also having strings.
Sharon writes almost all of the material; the closing track "Magic Baby" has Chris Kirkland credited as co-lyricist--he also adds vocals and double bass to this track--and "Heard" is Sharon's setting of words by Manchester based poet, Carole Batton. This song is performed virtually accapella; Sharon playing just seven telling notes on her Rhodes.
Vocal harmonies on the album are used sparingly and are both imaginative--the closing few seconds of "Old Man Young Town" for example is truly magical--and in some cases totally unexpected as in "Avaddon." In such an independent spirit as Sharon Lewis, there are few useful reference points. Certainly shadows of Pooka can be glimpsed on the beautiful "Crazy October Days" with its strange, atmospheric soundscape and unison vocals. More surprising perhaps are the shades of early Kate Bush, most notably on "Leaving On A Ship."
This is an extraordinary album, each song feels like an intimate, stolen moment, as if the artist is revealing something of herself to you alone. Sharon also arranged, mixed and produced almost the whole album and her her grandfather took the cover photo. The album is available from Sharon's website. Unlike anything else you'll have heard this year, this is a little piece of musical heaven. Exquisite.
by Jamie Field in Kington, England and Russ Elliot in New York
Culture Catch
Some albums make you fall in love with them, and should arrive with much adulation and applause, but all too often they creep into the waiting world with no fanfare, and quietly remain there, mysterious and rare.
The delightful and haunting The Hour Lilies by Sharon Lewis is one such experience. A small masterpiece of English sophistication on par with Nick Drake and Kate Bush, it is accomplished and audacious, but also reflects the sad fact that not all excellence gets noticed. Self-financed and released in minute quantities to sell at gigs, and from her website, it deserves to be more widely cherished.
April Fool is Joni Mitchell drenched in Mancunian showers, Morrissey in a girlish mode of reflection, piano and cello in perfect economy. The subtle hook for a small journey in restraint and refinement.
Lost Soul features a Fender Rhodes piano at its most effective, as Lewis glides across the lines "It's okay to be a lost soul/Take it from me/You're not the only one" A near-perfect lullaby for the abandoned of every generation, this is a song of hymn-like compassion. Rarely has space been left spare with such exposed economy, strength and vulnerability in equal measures.
'Old Man Young Town' emphasizes a fate that can await any person who sticks around in one place too long. The lonely and the lost are constant companions in her tableau of characters, but are observed with consideration and empathy.
Lewis, now based in Brighton, was a vital part of the Manchester music coterie. In the early 90s she was half of Pooka who recorded four critically acclaimed albums. She has guested on Orbital, but this album of home recordings marks her solo debut. Whilst her Manchester contemporaries like John Bramwell of I Am Kloot, and later contenders like Stephen Fretwell, have reached a wider audience, she continues to plough a more narrow groove, and on the strength of this album that is hard to understand.
"Leaving on a Ship" is the song that Clifford T. Ward was always on the borders realizing. It is swirling, churning affair, full of brooding drama that echoes Tori Amos and Patrick Wolf, though it has more in common with the divinely etched miseries of Lori Carson. Wistful and nostalgic, it is one of the most aching and beautiful songs you will hear in this, or any other year; lyrically and musically mesmerizing. She informs the listener. "Leaving on a ship/I see the cliffs getting smaller/Isn't that where I live?/How strange it is to see from a distance" The word "exquisite" was coined for songs such as this, and they are rare, as rare as this.
'Crazy October Days' is Nick Drake in autumnal, mellow androgyny. A mildly dervish-like guitar provides a floating backdrop of rare understatement, whilst 'Avaddon' is Claire Hamill gliding through a Talk Talk piano track of subtle economy. Lewis isn't frightened of space, she chisels and refines it in her songs till small is big. Her adroitness and concision are staggering, and put to particularly stunning use in 'Heard'. Based on a poem by Manchester street poet Carol Batten, a cohort of hers from the earliest gigs; her candid, honest spirituality makes a perfect marriage to the Spartan setting Lewis creates.
"I've often searched for what I've only heard in drier times. It is the bird itself that sings. Loud rain upon the leaves is music to a bird. In drier times it is the bird itself that's heard"
Were Laurie Anderson English, or if Enya took to heroin, this would be the outcome.
Lewis is no mere hybrid of previous girls. She packs a profound--at times--distant punch, but this album weaves a rare and compelling spell. There is craft and intellect to spare here that deserves sweet success. If you favor divine melancholia, and songs are flowers of inspiration, then these are the lilies with which to furnish your mind's eye. -
by Robert Cochrane
Reviews - from people who have heard Sharon live:
"To hear Sharon's music is to understand why she was put on this earth. It is to have your heart broken and mended in one tender movement. It is, in the words of Michael Ende, as if 'She thought of the music of the stars and the hour-lilies, and then, in a sweet, pure voice, she began to sing.' Or, as songstress Hope Sandoval laments: She's just like lightning. She goes right through you. Then you know you'll never be the same." - Bryna Ziobro
"What a fantastic night! Sharon was at her best - she played many of her classic songs, including 'Hallelujah', April Showers', Never Lets Me Sleep' and 'Lost Soul' performed as a poignant duet with Paul Chi. We are all eagerly anticipating Sharon's first solo album due out soon. Anyone who has never seen Sharon play, I urge you to. Likening Sharon's voice to that of an angel has almost become a Brightonian cliche, but I can offer no better analogy!" - John Wadsworth
"Often charming, usually soft, always sensitive, never predictable, sometimes stunning! Her songs are new, old and timeless. Her career is coming into summer blossom." - Paul Chi
"One of the most innovative and moving composers of the new millennium. Very delicately and deeply thought out arrangements. Complex ideas put across though use of simple words. Words often leave you questioning yourself into the night. The sort of music you'd buy, have in your record collection, but never put away because you're always playing it!" - Natasha Lea Jones
"Delicate, expressionistic tapestries." - Tony Evenson
"I've listened Sharon for many years, but I've never written a review so here it is: My first experiences of Sharon Lewis were at Healthy Concerts. She seems to have most of the emotions in her palette.Some songs so sensitive - 'Claire', 'It's Alright Now' - often tears would flow in the audience; and most songs just downright classics! Sharon is a true musician anyone with any sensitivity is sure to love this beautiful music." - Chris Kirkland
2 August, 2003 (Jill Phillips House): "Set in a very lovely living room within a gorgeous and evidently much-loved home, the environment somehow perfectly suited the gentle, charming and warm music of Sharon Lewis. I had very instantly warmed to the nature of this gig - this is what listening to music should be: intimate, slightly low-key, and enjoyed and thoroughly absorbed by an audience who obviously appreciates the beauty of music. There were a few crowd pleasers in the form of City Sick, The Car, and She Is a Rainbow (the latter two more than ably accompanied and complimented by Rose Polenzani), but Sharon Lewis proved that she is infinitely more than one half of the now defunct best band that ever existed, Pooka. With piano, acoustic guitar or just accapella, the songs sparkled with an absorbing radiance. New songs featured heavily as part of the set (personal highlights including You Heal Me and Alright Now), and certainly give weight to the fact that not only here is a wonderfully gifted singer, but also one with a terrific writing talent that seriously needs to be heard by the populace at large. The whole evening was quite remarkable. The second artist (on equal billing mind), Rose Polenzani was also remarkably great (as is her self-titled LP) and I urge you, the reader, to fly to her native Boston to try to catch her live. But for me, the night ultimately belonged to Sharon Lewis. I was devastatingly miserable after Pooka dissolved (I have this knack of discovering a band, only to have them split soon, or in this case 5 years later), and to see her performing what is quite frankly some of the most gorgeous material I have ever heard, makes me very cheerful. We're most excited to see some new recorded material soon. In the mean time, if ever you find yourself in Brighton, which in itself isn't an unpleasant experience, I urge you to see if Sharon is playing anywhere. It's a lovely, happy experience that I can't recommend enough, much like a 13.5 tog duvet, a purring cat and a mug of cocoa. " - david redmoon
13 May, 2003: "This was an intimate concert as part of the Brighton Festival, a double-bill with Astrid Williamson of Goya Dress. Beforehand I was wondering whether the gig was going to be the launch for her long-awaited solo album, but it seems we'll have to wait a little longer yet, this was more a question of Sharon playing her current favorites, the songs she felt like playing, and all the sweeter for it. Sharon's an alchemist whose songs burn with a brittle white flame, so powerful and so pure. And her musicianship is so fine, and so detailed, listening to her that night I had the image of a humming bird in my mind, a bird beating its wings to a completely different frequency from all others."- Jack
"Delicate and thoughtful, her songs talk of love and life through sensitive vocals and playing. Although Sharon Lewis has a deeper sensitivity, Folk Artist Kathryn Williams would be the nearest comparison. Warm and soothing, this is music to comfort and restore you." - Lee Harris
Sharon's songs are so beautiful, it's like they came out of the ground, what I mean is it's like they arrived fully formed because they could not be any other way, and what I love is that they are such a unique emotional expression of her's, but they are really every person's songs, I mean anyone can place themselves inside them. I am a big fan.
by Anais Mitchell
Reviews of The Hour Lilies (Sharon's debut album)
CD Baby
After touring the world and releasing four albums with the female duo, Pooka, queen of melody, Sharon Lewis, shows off her solo writing, her charm and magical touch for subtlety and nuance. The Hour Lilies is a breathtaking, stunning album- the type that finds you with your eyes closed, head bowed, breathing deep and slow. With a balanced feel for the reserved, dreamy qualities as well as clarity and direction, her songs all contain a flowering quality, a mesmerizing haze of exquisite feeling. Highly recommended.
Music Maker Magazine
Listening to Sharon Lewis's first solo record is like stepping into a waking dream in which birds and butterflies flutter around your ears, telling you secrets and whispering sweet tales of life at the bottom of the garden.
As one half of the acclaimed duo Pooka, Sharon cut a series of genre defining records that won her global recognition as a songwriter of panache and vision and a singer of crystal-cut clarity. For The Hour Lilies, Sharon has gone right back to basics, and the transition has paid off. This is a classy, 9-song debut that sparkles with linguistic wit and integrity and transcends the norm with breathless ease. April Fool‚ which darkly celebrates honesty and its trappings, pulls you effortlessly into Sharon's melancholic world and offset by the resonant cello, her voice appears angelic and guiding. Indeed, Sharon seems to want to give us all a big hug because the world's so tough and nasty. "It's ok to be a lost soul", she sings on Lost Soul‚ "put your head down and I'll let you sleep". The churlish among you may dismiss these sentiments as cute or even patronising, but Sharon's poetic phrasing and delicate voice unravel the cynic within and disarm those thoughts. She's right of course, the world really is nasty, and most of us could do with more hugs. Sparsely punctuated by bass, drums and the soaring flute of Ian Price, Leaving on a Ship‚ is a fine allegorical lament for lost love. Using the analogy of pulling away from England on a ship, she reminds us how our perceptions of situations change the further we become removed from them, it's the albums most powerful statement and it's one of those songs that stays with you after one listen. On Avaddon‚ (destruction), she shifts her perspective to tackle the feelings of hurt and resentment that follow infidelity. Unafraid to describe her bitterness, she transcendently surmises that "deceit, breeds deceit" and reminds us that revenge is never really sweet if it's taken against someone we love or once loved.
The Hour Lilies is a fragile and beautiful record. Sharon is an artist who has clearly stepped out of the shadow of her former success and taken a step forward in her evolution as a songwriter. Her extraordinary ability to make the personal universal is what makes her special. Throughout the album she tells you things that you feel are for you alone, secrets, lies, whispers and myths. There is so much strength in this music, hiding behind paper-thin masks of fragility and delicateness. It's a dualism that makes her work nothing less than vital.
by Jonny Wright
Musical Discoveries
Sharon Lewis was one half--the other half being Natasha Jones--of the UK-based duo Pooka who made three albums and one further limited edition CD in the decade following their debut in 1993. Pooka's music ignored much of accepted songwriting convention, the pieces often being linear in form, and featured some of the most inventive vocal harmony yet commited to little silver discs.
They soaked up influences like sponges and then totally corrupted them to their own unique view of the world. Pooka albums were never anything less than fascinating, full of the unexpected and sometimes the originality was breathtaking. Lyrically they could range from the blatently obvious to the completely obscure, often via the utterly profound. And they weren't afraid to venture into the sexually explicit either. They just wrote as they felt.
The Hour Lillies (2004) is Sharon's first release since the duo went their separate ways. It can be looked upon as a nine track EP as it lasts for barely thirty minutes and it is sheer bliss. The simple, at times almost minimalist, arrangements of the pieces are designed to throw the spotlight onto the songwriting and Sharon's voice--such a change in a world where the norm is for desperate over-arrangement to hide the weakness of the writing.
These pieces are filigree things, fragile and beautiful. Most feature Sharon on keyboards and guitars, and further subtle shades of light and dark are provided by Andy Nice who weaves mysterious cello lines on the opening two songs, "April Fool" and "Lost Soul," Scott Smith, who blows a subdued harmonica on "Old Man Young Town," and Ian Price who adds a distant flute and sax to "Leaving On A Ship." That track and "Avaddon (destruction)" also feature drums and bass, the latter also having strings.
Sharon writes almost all of the material; the closing track "Magic Baby" has Chris Kirkland credited as co-lyricist--he also adds vocals and double bass to this track--and "Heard" is Sharon's setting of words by Manchester based poet, Carole Batton. This song is performed virtually accapella; Sharon playing just seven telling notes on her Rhodes.
Vocal harmonies on the album are used sparingly and are both imaginative--the closing few seconds of "Old Man Young Town" for example is truly magical--and in some cases totally unexpected as in "Avaddon." In such an independent spirit as Sharon Lewis, there are few useful reference points. Certainly shadows of Pooka can be glimpsed on the beautiful "Crazy October Days" with its strange, atmospheric soundscape and unison vocals. More surprising perhaps are the shades of early Kate Bush, most notably on "Leaving On A Ship."
This is an extraordinary album, each song feels like an intimate, stolen moment, as if the artist is revealing something of herself to you alone. Sharon also arranged, mixed and produced almost the whole album and her her grandfather took the cover photo. The album is available from Sharon's website. Unlike anything else you'll have heard this year, this is a little piece of musical heaven. Exquisite.
by Jamie Field in Kington, England and Russ Elliot in New York
Culture Catch
Some albums make you fall in love with them, and should arrive with much adulation and applause, but all too often they creep into the waiting world with no fanfare, and quietly remain there, mysterious and rare.
The delightful and haunting The Hour Lilies by Sharon Lewis is one such experience. A small masterpiece of English sophistication on par with Nick Drake and Kate Bush, it is accomplished and audacious, but also reflects the sad fact that not all excellence gets noticed. Self-financed and released in minute quantities to sell at gigs, and from her website, it deserves to be more widely cherished.
April Fool is Joni Mitchell drenched in Mancunian showers, Morrissey in a girlish mode of reflection, piano and cello in perfect economy. The subtle hook for a small journey in restraint and refinement.
Lost Soul features a Fender Rhodes piano at its most effective, as Lewis glides across the lines "It's okay to be a lost soul/Take it from me/You're not the only one" A near-perfect lullaby for the abandoned of every generation, this is a song of hymn-like compassion. Rarely has space been left spare with such exposed economy, strength and vulnerability in equal measures.
'Old Man Young Town' emphasizes a fate that can await any person who sticks around in one place too long. The lonely and the lost are constant companions in her tableau of characters, but are observed with consideration and empathy.
Lewis, now based in Brighton, was a vital part of the Manchester music coterie. In the early 90s she was half of Pooka who recorded four critically acclaimed albums. She has guested on Orbital, but this album of home recordings marks her solo debut. Whilst her Manchester contemporaries like John Bramwell of I Am Kloot, and later contenders like Stephen Fretwell, have reached a wider audience, she continues to plough a more narrow groove, and on the strength of this album that is hard to understand.
"Leaving on a Ship" is the song that Clifford T. Ward was always on the borders realizing. It is swirling, churning affair, full of brooding drama that echoes Tori Amos and Patrick Wolf, though it has more in common with the divinely etched miseries of Lori Carson. Wistful and nostalgic, it is one of the most aching and beautiful songs you will hear in this, or any other year; lyrically and musically mesmerizing. She informs the listener. "Leaving on a ship/I see the cliffs getting smaller/Isn't that where I live?/How strange it is to see from a distance" The word "exquisite" was coined for songs such as this, and they are rare, as rare as this.
'Crazy October Days' is Nick Drake in autumnal, mellow androgyny. A mildly dervish-like guitar provides a floating backdrop of rare understatement, whilst 'Avaddon' is Claire Hamill gliding through a Talk Talk piano track of subtle economy. Lewis isn't frightened of space, she chisels and refines it in her songs till small is big. Her adroitness and concision are staggering, and put to particularly stunning use in 'Heard'. Based on a poem by Manchester street poet Carol Batten, a cohort of hers from the earliest gigs; her candid, honest spirituality makes a perfect marriage to the Spartan setting Lewis creates.
"I've often searched for what I've only heard in drier times. It is the bird itself that sings. Loud rain upon the leaves is music to a bird. In drier times it is the bird itself that's heard"
Were Laurie Anderson English, or if Enya took to heroin, this would be the outcome.
Lewis is no mere hybrid of previous girls. She packs a profound--at times--distant punch, but this album weaves a rare and compelling spell. There is craft and intellect to spare here that deserves sweet success. If you favor divine melancholia, and songs are flowers of inspiration, then these are the lilies with which to furnish your mind's eye. -
by Robert Cochrane
Reviews - from people who have heard Sharon live:
"To hear Sharon's music is to understand why she was put on this earth. It is to have your heart broken and mended in one tender movement. It is, in the words of Michael Ende, as if 'She thought of the music of the stars and the hour-lilies, and then, in a sweet, pure voice, she began to sing.' Or, as songstress Hope Sandoval laments: She's just like lightning. She goes right through you. Then you know you'll never be the same." - Bryna Ziobro
"What a fantastic night! Sharon was at her best - she played many of her classic songs, including 'Hallelujah', April Showers', Never Lets Me Sleep' and 'Lost Soul' performed as a poignant duet with Paul Chi. We are all eagerly anticipating Sharon's first solo album due out soon. Anyone who has never seen Sharon play, I urge you to. Likening Sharon's voice to that of an angel has almost become a Brightonian cliche, but I can offer no better analogy!" - John Wadsworth
"Often charming, usually soft, always sensitive, never predictable, sometimes stunning! Her songs are new, old and timeless. Her career is coming into summer blossom." - Paul Chi
"One of the most innovative and moving composers of the new millennium. Very delicately and deeply thought out arrangements. Complex ideas put across though use of simple words. Words often leave you questioning yourself into the night. The sort of music you'd buy, have in your record collection, but never put away because you're always playing it!" - Natasha Lea Jones
"Delicate, expressionistic tapestries." - Tony Evenson
"I've listened Sharon for many years, but I've never written a review so here it is: My first experiences of Sharon Lewis were at Healthy Concerts. She seems to have most of the emotions in her palette.Some songs so sensitive - 'Claire', 'It's Alright Now' - often tears would flow in the audience; and most songs just downright classics! Sharon is a true musician anyone with any sensitivity is sure to love this beautiful music." - Chris Kirkland
2 August, 2003 (Jill Phillips House): "Set in a very lovely living room within a gorgeous and evidently much-loved home, the environment somehow perfectly suited the gentle, charming and warm music of Sharon Lewis. I had very instantly warmed to the nature of this gig - this is what listening to music should be: intimate, slightly low-key, and enjoyed and thoroughly absorbed by an audience who obviously appreciates the beauty of music. There were a few crowd pleasers in the form of City Sick, The Car, and She Is a Rainbow (the latter two more than ably accompanied and complimented by Rose Polenzani), but Sharon Lewis proved that she is infinitely more than one half of the now defunct best band that ever existed, Pooka. With piano, acoustic guitar or just accapella, the songs sparkled with an absorbing radiance. New songs featured heavily as part of the set (personal highlights including You Heal Me and Alright Now), and certainly give weight to the fact that not only here is a wonderfully gifted singer, but also one with a terrific writing talent that seriously needs to be heard by the populace at large. The whole evening was quite remarkable. The second artist (on equal billing mind), Rose Polenzani was also remarkably great (as is her self-titled LP) and I urge you, the reader, to fly to her native Boston to try to catch her live. But for me, the night ultimately belonged to Sharon Lewis. I was devastatingly miserable after Pooka dissolved (I have this knack of discovering a band, only to have them split soon, or in this case 5 years later), and to see her performing what is quite frankly some of the most gorgeous material I have ever heard, makes me very cheerful. We're most excited to see some new recorded material soon. In the mean time, if ever you find yourself in Brighton, which in itself isn't an unpleasant experience, I urge you to see if Sharon is playing anywhere. It's a lovely, happy experience that I can't recommend enough, much like a 13.5 tog duvet, a purring cat and a mug of cocoa. " - david redmoon
13 May, 2003: "This was an intimate concert as part of the Brighton Festival, a double-bill with Astrid Williamson of Goya Dress. Beforehand I was wondering whether the gig was going to be the launch for her long-awaited solo album, but it seems we'll have to wait a little longer yet, this was more a question of Sharon playing her current favorites, the songs she felt like playing, and all the sweeter for it. Sharon's an alchemist whose songs burn with a brittle white flame, so powerful and so pure. And her musicianship is so fine, and so detailed, listening to her that night I had the image of a humming bird in my mind, a bird beating its wings to a completely different frequency from all others."- Jack
"Delicate and thoughtful, her songs talk of love and life through sensitive vocals and playing. Although Sharon Lewis has a deeper sensitivity, Folk Artist Kathryn Williams would be the nearest comparison. Warm and soothing, this is music to comfort and restore you." - Lee Harris