Mama’s Broke – Narrow Line
Free Dirt Records – 13 May 2022
Back in 2019, Mama’s Broke put out their debut album, ‘Count The Wicked’, and I felt inspired to wave their flag high and draw folks’ attention toward an act showing mouth-watering potential. I even included the record in my end-of-year top ten, having advised readers not to ignore such a strong release. The duo are Lisa Maria and Amy Lou Keeler, who together play an undeniable grain of dark gothic folk music that seems the perfect soundtrack to the challenging times we are living in 2022. Lisa Maria is the multi-instrument switching wizard of the pair, with a potent line in Eastern European flavoured fiddle explorations, while Amy Lou’s element in the formulae is the classic acoustic troubadour; yet this remains a wholly collaborative union, both sing and are equal contributors to the writing and musical development. Now with a label, Free Dirt Records, behind them too, this sophomore release is where those early buds of promise and potential are really beginning to blossom. Mama’s Broke are certainly going to be hard to ignore now.
Three years on and impossible to foresee world events behind us, it has been a little bit like counting the fallen on the independent music scene. When someone re-emerges like this, you welcome them back with a sense of “you made it!” Mama’s Broke actually flipped a Covid curfew in Montreal into a positive by deciding, “we’re going to get shut in anyway, no matter where we are at, so this is a good excuse to just work on nothing but music all day.” Two years of applying for funding followed, finally coming through from Canada Arts Council, allowing recording to commence in Montreal at the Treatment rooms. Pandemic related cancellations caused further delay with new lockdown rules stating studios must shut, but the artists union of Quebec rallied against that, getting recording spaces re-opened. Amy recalled, “we weren’t really sure we were going to be able to do it but luckily, the recording studio had sort of two levels, so the producer and the sound engineer could be upstairs and we were downstairs, isolating us all for Covid safety.”
First impressions on ‘Narrow Line’ are that the debut was certainly no fluke; there are no traces of second album syndrome found here. The darkness remains, but what good is music if it does not reflect the range of colours and emotions that life throws at you? And what square punches me about Mama’s Broke’s music are the many tiny, detailed elements that mould together to make a satisfying whole. Opener ‘Just Pick One’ seems to be imploring the listener to stamp down indecisiveness, take courage and pick a path you can stick to without deviation. The options might not be easy, there will be pain, and you may feel the darkness; the sombre tone of the music especially tells you this, we are not eased into the album gently. However, despite the harsh realism of the lyrics, the music suddenly bursts open with washes of western-style fiddle and banjo picking, letting the sun shine down and elevating the listener to a higher state. Letting the darkness and light collide like this allows the magic to occur.
We witness a starker example of this on ‘Oh Sun,’ initially, a sunrise serenade simply delivered with pure overlapping a cappella vocals; here though, it serves as a prelude to a brace of gorgeous fiddle reels, ‘Pale Night’ and ‘Forgetting Reel.’ This is what excited me about the band in the first place; it is that combination of lyrical song forms and instrumental passages that somehow tell you as much about the story as the words themselves. It is an intoxicating mix, mainly because those moments where the music unfolds sound so natural and spontaneous. Clearly, that is not the case, I am certain the duo both put a lot of compositional work into these tunes, but the end result is as raw, rootsy and alive sounding as it is possible to get, and for that reason, despite the often dark subject matters, the music remains uplifting and a joy to hear. Undoubtedly, the power in those harmonious voices has something to do with this too.
I can still detect a hint of Country music in this melting pot; in particular, the Gillian Welch comparison I made previously remains relevant, especially when I hear a line like “do right man but not right now” on ‘Between The Briar And The Rose.’ Often the subject matter is oblique, open to multi-interpretation, but occasionally they do knock you over the head with something that is both musically and lyrically direct. This happens suddenly on ‘How It Ends,’ a breezy fiddle-led ballad that is an out-and-out relationship break up song where the narrator toasts her own ability to finally wise up. The meat on the bone of the album is heard on the title track, wherein meditations on the climate crisis, violence against immigrants and wealth disparity all combine to paint a solemn portrait of the modern world; furthermore, Mama’s Broke do not offer any easy answers. Somehow though, they still comfort the listener as best they can, singing, “the best we can do is break up time and keep it on a narrow line.” The music here is an aching delight, with some deft little changes to be enjoyed in the playing and an overall soothing feel. This is like folk music as open-heart surgery, unflinchingly getting its hands dirty in a mess of real-life whilst still locating the humanity within.
Mama’s Broke are travellers and adventurers at heart; this is why for all life’s traumas in their words, musically, they always remain wide-eyed, alert, and open to fresh impetus and experience. As the album continues, there are ongoing shifts in tone and feel, ‘God’s Little Boy’ has a hint of Mimi and Richard Farina about it, nailing in plain terms the evil deeds of a terrorist shielding his conscious to wrongdoing with religious beliefs. Further on, ‘The Ones That I Love’ plays like a sincere thank you to the band’s friends and relations. The album closes with ‘Windows,’ an ode to the romantic appeal of travel which in some ways drives at the core of what propels Mama’s Broke forward.
They are described as folk-without-borders, yet it goes beyond that; their whole musical outlook is without boundary. For sure, this new album definitively builds on the obvious promise of their debut; they have already grown to a point where they are making untrammelled folk music that, whilst sounding vintage in style, could belong in no other era than the present day. Mama’s Broke may seem traditional, but their tales of modern life have too much bite to be nostalgic; they are new and unique voices in modern, rootsy Americana that must be heard.
Narrow Line is released on 13th May via Free Dirt Records. Pre-order here: https://lnk.to/narrowline
Mama’s Broke are on tour in the UK and Ireland June/July 2022.
Mama’s Broke – UK and Ireland Tour Dates
Thursday, June 2 – The Lost ARC, Rhayader
Friday, June 3 – The Art Shop & Chapel, Abergavenny
Wednesday, June 8 – Temperance, Leamington Spa
Thursday, June 9 – The Globe, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Friday, June 10 – Horse & Bamboo Theatre, Waterfoot
Monday, June 13 – Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham
Tuesday, June 14 – Dartford Folk Club, Dartford
Wednesday, June 15 – Paper Dress Vintage, London
Thursday, June 16 – The Greystones, Sheffield
Friday, June 17 – Renfrew Town Hall & Museum, Renfrew
Sunday, June 19 – The Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol
Wednesday, June 22 – Fulacht Fiadh Cafe, Manorhamilton #
Thursday, June 23 – The Duncairn, Belfast #
Friday, June 24 – Coughlan’s, Cork #
Sunday, June 26 – Connolly’s of Leap, Co. Cork #
Thursday, June 30 – Waterville #
Thursday, June 30 – Waterville #
Friday, July 1 – The Attic, Hotel Doolin, Doolin #
Saturday, July 2 – Church of Ireland, Mountshannon Arts Festival #
-# and Rufous Nightjar
Ticket links and more details can be found here: https://mamasbroke.ca/