Baskery is three sisters from Stockholm, known for their energetic live shows and unique sound, created on a six-string banjo, upright bass, acoustic- and electric guitars and drums, with lots of harmonies on top. The trio quickly made a name for themselves in the Americana and Folk scene and broke some new musical grounds when they sealed a record deal with WBR bros (Los Angeles) in 2014. Since 2018 they are based in Europe. The band has made appearances on numerous internationally acclaimed festivals and earned prestigious support slots for renowned artists such as Robbie Williams, Brandie Carlile, Gary Clark Jr, Lukas Nelson and Seth Lakeman.
V: End Of The Bloodline, Baskery’s fifth studio album is out now, the first full length from the Swedish sister trio in five years. As the members live in three different countries, the appointed recording had to be postponed when the pandemic struck in March 2020. The positive outcome of this period of isolation was that it generated a new batch of individually composed songs. Once the band finally reunited, they approached the varied and wide spread material with strong confidence and playfulness.
”The instruments are the same, but my effects’ pedal board grew a bit since the start”, Greta admits. ”The banjos take on some shiny picking parts in addition to the dirty distorted slide vibe.”
If the 2018 release, Coyote & Sirens was all for the collective and the group identity, this album reveals more personality and individual reflections. That said, the sibling trio quickly absorbed each song and shaped them into Baskery signatures. When it came to finding the right studio, the band sought and found a secluded Devon farmhouse, where the wooden structure offered just the perfect place for a classic live session format.
The choice of producer fell on fellow musician, the award winning Sean Lakeman (The Levellers, Imelda May, Equation, Billy Bragg) whom the band first got to know back in 2008, supporting his brother Seth Lakeman and band across the UK. His vision of the coming recording harmonised with the band’s, to use as many live takes as possible. In order to achieve that they buried themselves in high quality vintage gear and surrendered to the grand room’s potential.
”We’ve come to quite enjoy grander soundscapes”, says Sunniva.”This album contains very few overdubs, but we did allow ourselves to stack some harmonies to get that infinity feel.”
Apart from inviting Seth Lakeman to play the viola on two tracks, ‘Little Lonesome Hate’ and ‘Wolf Hook’ the sisters conduct all instrument parts on their own. All arrangements and compositions can also be credited to the band. The mixing of the twelve tracks came to be divided between Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Beth Orton, Depeche Mode, P.J. Harvey, The Pogues, Alison Moyet, Gogol Bordello), Lasse Mårtén (Lykke Li, Peter Bjorn and John, Chrissie Hynde, Primal Scream), Al Scott (Oysterband, Levellers, Eliza Carthy) and Sean Lakeman.
The V is a generous record in the sense that is allows each member to shine and comfortably take on the lead role, as well as giving room for the 4th entity, which is the band.
”No subjects have been taboo”, says Stella. ” Creativity really is best served borderless”.
Artists’ website: https://baskeryband.com/
‘Way With Lovers’ – official video:
Thanks for stopping by. Please help us continue and support us by tipping/donating to folking.com via
You must be logged in to post a comment.