Mama’s Broke, our current Artists of the Month, have shared a tongue-in-cheek video for the Carter Family style ‘How It Ends’ from their new album Narrow Line, which is released tomorrow. Styled as a retro-vintage hoedown, Lisa Maria and Amy Lou Keeler come off as the better dancers making the outcome inevitable…you know ‘How It Ends’.
In his review, Danny Neill describes the song as 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. He also got to chat about the song in his recent interview here. Extract below:
Danny Neill (Folk Radio): On a song like ‘How It Ends’, it jumped out at me as being a very personal song (shrieks of laughter from Amy Lou Keeler). Am I right then? Is that a personal song, and how do you feel in general about personal lyrical content?
Amy Lou Keeler: That one is really particular because I think that most of them are more metaphorical, and that one is just, really straightforward, a break-up song. Err yeah… It’s very obvious. That was a really interesting thing for me to do because I started writing this song after a break-up, obviously, and I was like, “oh god, am I going to write a break-up song? This is so embarrassing; can’t I write something more metaphorical with imagery and something about the ocean?” I don’t know, but then I was like, “fuck it, I’m just going to do it.”
Was there any discussion between the two of you about whether you should do that, could there be any comeback etc.?
ALK: There’s always a discussion, always, you know, “Is this too cheesy?”
Lisa Maria: Oh definitely, that song, in particular, took on a lot of different forms like its initial raw thing was more Carter Family style. Then I was trying to work out a mandolin part for it, and then we completely re-changed it. We probably had at least three or four different choruses before we settled on one, then it really morphed into like this old-time tune.
ALK: Yeah, it didn’t even have a chorus when I first wrote it and then I brought it to you and then we wrote the chorus together then totally re-arranged. There were so many different forms in how that one evolved.
LM: It wasn’t until we were in the studio, and it was kind of like an afterthought, that Amy was just, “huh, I wonder if I should see how a guitar would sound on this song?”
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/