Liz Durrett “Outside Our Gates” (WARM Electronic Recordings 2008)

Liz Durrett’s new album is dark, delicious, and a bit scary…

As far as alt-rock royalty goes, Liz Durrett is up there with the best of them. With her uncle being singer/song-writer Vic Chestnut, she can’t go wrong. But this doesn’t detract from her outstanding talent for heart-rending songs and glorious melodies.

Durrett and Chestnut have shared a tight musical relationship in the past. Chestnut produced her previous albums, and features on her latest endeavour, along with Brian Causey and Amanda Kapousouz, to name but a few.

“Outside Our Gates” was produced by Eric Bachmann (Crooked Fingers, Archers of Loaf), and this marks a departure from her sparse back-to-basics sound towards the use of much bigger, lush arrangements.

The end result is powerful, but she manages to retain an eerie sense of dislocation and shadowy depth which is astoundingly creepy.

Here, Durrett invites the listener to step through a glass darkly into a twisted world of love, loss, and heart-breaking melodies.

Her style is comparable to many class musicians, including Beth Orton, Sinaed O’Connor, Joni Mitchell, Beck, Bonny “Prince” Billie, and the Fairport Convention, but this is merely in terms of genre.

Durrett produces a unique blend of 1970s-inspired folk-rock with psychedelic overtones that makes for a very compelling listen indeed.

Date review added:  Monday, September 22, 2008
Reviewer:  Sian Claire Owen
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  Artist website