KYSON POINT
Underwater Sky
Husband and wife duo Kelly and David Booth are set to score a success with the release of their debut album Underwater Sky. Already established in their own right, and with respective solo releases issued in 2023, this album sees their coming together, in terms of recording, for the first time under their professional name, Kyson Point, taken from a picturesque location on the River Debden in Suffolk.
Already widely acknowledged for their live performances, with sell-outs in their home county of Suffolk, they have also graced the stages of festivals such as Folk East and Maverick here in the UK and Live At Heart and Folk At Heart in Sweden, where they have honed their sets to encompass both reflective ballads and up-tempo chorus songs. Indeed, as one of the Front of House Managers for their appearance at Folk East, I can personally attest to their quality.
The two UK festivals mentioned above possibly give an indication of where their music style is located. Thus, musically, they offer a contemporary take on a folk music tinged with Americana hybrid. Inspired by the natural world and human existence, their music and writing is influenced by folk tradition, the open landscapes of Suffolk and David’s native Pennine Hills together with the lush, authentic sounds of Laurel Canyon.
On this recording, multi-instrumentalist David and the piano, keyboard, cello and violin of Kelly, who are also credited with all compositions and production, are joined by several talented guest musicians, including Giovanni Crescenzi, bass guitar, Jonathan Evans, cello, Sophie Sirota viola & violin, together with Scott Neubert who arranged and recorded his pedal steel in Nashville.
With wonderful watercolour album-cover art by Claudia Myatt, depicting a view from the River Dibden in Woodbridge towards Kyson Point, the themes that run their course through the album are described as “building and reinforcing connections with the natural world, with each other and with their selves.” The accompanying illustrated booklet helpfully gives lyrics to all 10 tracks too.
The natural world motif is immediately apparent in the opening track, ‘Dark River’, the first single taken from the CD. Fairly up-tempo, the listener will immediately be struck by how Kelly’s vocals shine and combine so well with David’s. A paean to rivers, both general and specific, “on your banks we build our home,” the lyrics are both heartfelt and well-chosen. Similarly, ‘Pyramids’ draws on the environment, possibly suggesting the location of David’s upbringing, “Rock on rock, so many hands have moved these humble stones piled up to pyramids” and craving “if only we could see the same countless sunsets, together feel the breaking of a thousand dawns”. A slower tempo is noticeable here, with the pair alternating vocal duties on the verses over simple piano and various guitar sounds.
Tempo and mood are lifted in ‘If We Are Houses’, a wonderful evocation of mutual fellowship and community spirit “we would like to welcome you, hang up your coat, take off your boots, we’d like to welcome you in… to light the fire and make a brew.” Musically, there is some fine piano, an insistent percussive beat, endearing brass and quality vocal harmonies which are very much in the mould of CSNY, creating a ‘summer of love’ vibe.
‘Michael’ is a poignant song which focuses on neurodiversity and OCD, with the titular protagonist setting the table for one, counting the layout three times and matching the lines on the silverware before taking “five steps to the apartment door, seven turns of the key”, only, after treading between the cracks, to face a “jury queueing for the bus”. This moving song is embellished by some potent brass playing.
More personal, at times introspective, subjects are broached in several songs. ‘Desire Lines’, a synonym for ‘desire paths’, which refer to convenient shortcuts which emerge where the deliberately constructed paths take a longer or more circuitous route, takes this definition and uses it metaphorically in a song which talks of charting one’s course through life, and making life-choices.
‘Somewhere Else’, with its gentle, opening piano notes and David’s lead vocals is another emotional piece, again enhanced by the brass, which seems to allude to loss of life, “We are not leaving, we are just moving on, I will be here, though you’re moving on somewhere else.” Matching research with the lyrics within the song ‘Blink Bonny’ suggests that the title does not refer to the 19th century champion racehorse, the Pacific Class locomotive nor the Scottish instrumental reel. References to lowland mists, coupled with lines such as “I’ll see you in the blink of a bonny until we meet again my bonny lad”, coupled with the Celtic sounding strings provided by Sophie Sirota, (who also performed with the duo at Folk East), alongside Holly’s spartan vocals and piano, suggest not only a link with north of the border, possibly Blinkbonny, a few miles west of Edinburgh, but also a familial link to a son. Of course, this could all be irrelevant conjecture, after all, blink bonny also means ‘a pretty place’ and thus would be perfectly in keeping with one of the themes running through the album.
‘Whistling Man’, which first appeared on Kelly’s aforementioned 2023 Wave Machines album gets a reinterpretation here, this time with added spoken words from Drew Young. Another reflective piece, with gentle, acoustic guitar and quality pedal steel from Scott Neubart, this version has been shorn of the electric guitar present on the original, replaced by very tasteful acoustic picking. In terms of subject matter, Holly previously described it as “an observation on our traditional concepts of God. Is ‘He’ really to blame for mankind’s behaviour, or merely just the excuse”. Another great composition.
The final two tracks on the album look to matters more parochial. ‘Home Is the Love’ is a love song, pure and simple, Holly’s vocals, David’s confident electric guitar solo and gorgeous cello all melding seamlessly before ‘The Wedding’ returns us of the theme of what it feels like to truly be human. With a South American jazz feel, and the brass intensifying the warm sound, who would want to miss the occasion.
