Edwina Margaret Lumsden otherwise known as Fanny Lumsden is an Australian country music singer and songwriter born in Warren, New South Wales who’s fourth studio album `Hey Dawn` is released this month. Fanny has said that she found herself drawn to her childhood on this long player but it`s also about the here and now, how it’s shaped by the stories from our past, and how they can always be re-written in our future.
This album opens with title track `Hey Dawn` which is pretty stripped back and has an almost gospel come spiritual like feel before filling out in the last thirty seconds. It appears to relate to the acceptance of a rural working environment and the hardships that entails. We enjoy an upbeat composition with an uplifting positive message on `Great Divide` which relates to where the artist resides today. A number that allows all the band free reign.
`You’ll Be Fine` is an appealing fast paced pop offering while `Ugly Flowers` is a ballad like composition that was inspired in part by the passing of the singer`s grandmother that recalls the nostalgia of childhood. A deeply introspective number which has piano keys, a plucked banjo and poignant trumpet segment in the latter section.
`When I Die` is a fairly captivating rock-tinged pop number that relates to having lived a full life and not wanting people to grieve but reflect on your fulfilled life when you`ve passed. There was a delicate beauty about the vocals on `Lucky` where the chorus has a kind of sea shanty texture. A banjo or mandolin leads us by the hand through this reflective submission. The inclusion of brass or horns added a real depth to this track.
`Soar` exudes a kind of shimmer and seems to be about adolescent reminiscences amongst other life ruminations. I thought that `Millionaire` raced along pretty much like the car the singer recalls at the start of this number .
`Enjoy The Ride` has a folk like vibe which is initially stripped back before harmonies and a more sonic musical sound add to it`s overall flavour. The album closes out with `Stories` a stripped back reflective contemplative offering with guitar and vocals that recalls the artists upbringing in the Riverina.
`Hey Dawn` was a wonderful introduction for me to this country artist who unless I was aware would have assumed came from Tennessee or somewhere similar. Fanny has a rich and varied vocal range and has the ability to script lyrics that really paint a visual picture as well as an aural soundscape. This artist has three previous albums already released so I have some catching up.
Rating 8.5 / 10
