Critically acclaimed Samantha Crain is back with her fourth album Under Branch & Thorn & Tree and, fair warning, it’ll blow you away. It’s calm without being sad, and completely stunning on all levels.

Crain has mastered the trick of emotional and thought-provoking lyrics matched with a more upbeat melody. Unlike a lot of artists who overemphasise the melody, here the two work together to create the perfect match.

She also mixes in a few folk songs like ‘Elk City’ and ‘Big Rock’ which is a slight change of tone without being out of place on the album, adding to it rather than contrasting it. An example of Crain’s musical talent and know how.

Similarly, ‘Outside The Pale’ features a stunning violin, which adds to the track without overpowering it, something this instrument can easily do if not used well enough.

Her incredible vocals are faultless throughout. The smoldering vocals would often be made to carry an album, however, every aspect of this album is so good that the vocals as incredible as they are, are matched, not challenged or forced to carry certain tracks.

That being said, the most amazing aspect of this album has to be the lyrics. They are so raw and open and honest you can hear the emotion dripping off each track. The imagery in ‘Kathleen’ is simply stunning; “Colours of the night / The darkness around the light.” Crain has an incredible talent for storytelling, not just lyric writing, as each song has a strong sense of a story. The metaphor in ‘If I Had A Dollar’ is so strong yet beautiful and easy to follow. That being said, the tracks without metaphors are just as powerful, ‘Elk City’ and ‘You or the Mystery’ being case and point of this.

The most heart wrenching tracks are ‘When You Come Back’ and ‘Moving Day’. ‘When You Come Back’ is a gentle, moving song which contains lyrics such as “When you come back / Can you bring my heart?” and “I know you’re broke / But I got spare parts.” In addition, ‘Moving Day’ is an incredibly open and honest recount of the end of a relationship, which gives such a strong sense of rawness, with even the melody being stripped back showing the impact of this event. That being said this album has an underlining message of hope, even in the face of heartbreak, these songs have a hint of hope. Crain herself has described them as “protest songs” but not in the traditional sense, they are from the perspective of the underdog, which creates this sense of hope and drive even in the face of challenges and knockbacks. This is shown clearly from the start of the album with the opening track contain the lyrics: “It’s such a long road /Keep marching.”

One word to sum up Samantha Crain’s album Under Branch & Thorn & Tree would be: beautiful. Everything about this album is beautiful, the melodies, the vocals, the lyrics are all absolutely beautiful. A piece of art that everyone needs to hear.  

Under Branch & Thorn & Tree is available from Amazon and iTunes.

Opening up this evening's proceeding is the wonderful Samantha Crain,hailing from Oklahoma this beautiful songbird cuts a lone figure on this large stage. With heartfelt, delicate songs the incredible silence that falls over the audience is well deserved as every member pays this lady the utmost attention. The stand out track, ‘Ghosts of Boston’, is actually written about New York but apparently it has too many syllables, therefore Boston was put in its place. With a voice that makes our hairs prick up, our senses are suitably heightened prior to the wonderful Smoke Fairies taking to the stage.

Dressed all in white these two beautiful songbirds collect their guitars, and set about showing The Sage a night to remember. Opener ‘Waiting For Something to Begin' is such a beautiful track full of intertwining harmonies and a true beauty conveyed by the lyricism . With four albums now under their belts, Smoke Fairies have truly honed their craft, something which is evident in their intricate guitar playing, gorgeous harmonies and fantastic stage presence, this evening sees them playing tracks from across their back catalogue.

Tonight, Smoke Fairies show a more darker brooding side than normal, with tracks like ‘Eclipse them All’ and ‘Shadow Inversions.’ There seems to be a much darker feel to those tracks, a lot less peaceful than others in this evening's set. That said though ‘Shadow Inversions’ is definitely a highlight, its darker melody, synth lead and almost haunting vocals really allow it to stand head and shoulders above the rest.

Whilst these girls have nailed their more delicate side, tracks like ‘Misty Versions’ allow them to show off their slightly rockier side, whilst ‘We’ve Seen Birds’ is almost a pop track. This evening sees us almost put in to a trance by the beauty of these ladies' tracks. It’s hard not to intently listen and pay attention and, barring the odd ignorant fool, this evening’s crowd are as attentive as you could possibly wish for.

The band close out their main set with the brilliant ‘Are You Crazy?’ a track that epitomises this evening's set; a beautiful track with their trademark harmonies and delicate vocals. However, tonight is marred only by a small number of individuals unable to respect the artists on stage.

This evening has proved that the Smoke Fairies are truly a multi-faceted pair of ladies, with a multitude of talents at their disposal. They cross musical boundaries effortlessly, putting together a beautiful collection of songs that we have thoroughly enjoyed this evening.