London’s Sirens Keep Smilin’
November 22, 1999
Two summers ago, The Sirens played the Open Stage at the Home County Folk Festival; last summer, they opened the show. In less than two years, The Sirens — Donna Creighton, Nora Galloway, and Jo-Anne Lawton — have established themselves locally, and the sound of their voices should carry them much further. They share with their mythic namesake not only commanding vocals, but also a composition of disparate parts: in this case, folk, Celtic, country, pop and swing.
Serendipity played a large part in getting The Sirens together. At one time, all of these women were pursuing separate singing careers. But Nora Galloway knew Jo-Anne Lawton and occasionally they performed together. Lawton knew Donna Creighton and it was Jo-Anne who first brought the three together to sing. Creighton, a former schoolteacher, said she got goose bumps
the first time she heard their voices together.
She was not the last one to have that response.
As might be expected of a band receptive to so many influences, The Sirens perform material which might be labelled pastiche. Misery, from the new CD, Smilin’, (Shipwreckerds), sounds like a hit from 75 years ago. Even the references suit the tenor of an earlier time and the band claims they would like to write a Gershwinesque musical of like-minded pieces. Lawton’s Clickety-Clack, a rollicking, pun-filled concoction, could easily become a hit in the country market. In the event that it does, the CD single’s B-side would either be All Through the Night or Good Son Good Daughter, both by Galloway. The former recalls the Eagles, though the recorded version features a bluegrass arrangement with banjo and fiddle. The latter, while not exactly a country tune, has the kind of homespun theme that would appeal to fans of the genre.
Several of their songs celebrate what could be called family values — if that expression had not been kidnapped by the politically myopic.
Perhaps the most extraordinary of these is Em’s Song, a haunting, a cappella elegy for Galloway’s deceased mother. Creighton’s Rocking also examines the real experiences and values of family. An ode to her son’s and her own youth, it draws on the challenges she faced as a teenage mother and the difficulties all parents experience letting go of their grown children.
Unlike a certain type of folk poet, however (Alannis Morrisette’s last album comes to mind here), The Sirens have not deluded themselves into believing that every reflection and experience is instantly worth repeating to strangers. Dedicated artists, they craft and shape the raw, personal material. The characters and stories in Good Son Good Daughter, Em’s Song and Rocking transcend the specific events upon which each was based.
Indeed, certain songs recall no contemporary experiences, but rather mythic lives lived elsewhere. The standard was set on The Sirens first CD.
Two originals by Lawton, A Sailor’s Wife and Anachy, sound like something the forsaken women of forgotten villages have been singing for generations. She gives us another such song on Smilin’ — Beautiful Blue. Creighton bridges these personal and mythic styles with Heed The Warning, a song where traditional and contemporary idioms whirl together. It takes a modern wolf in demure clothing
, and spins her into a gothic fairy-tale creature.
Galloway’s contribution to this style is the band’s theme piece, The Lure of Loralei, a showcase for the band’s signature — distinctive voices that blend and move and wave together. The Sirens harmonize beautifully yet their singing can feature discordant elements, capturing the mythic siren menace. The band’s usual minimalist instrumentation — guitars, bodhran, recorder — support their vocals nicely.
The Sirens are planning on videotaping their Smilin’ launch party, so the audience will have the chance to become part of this up-and-coming band’s history.
If you are not able to attend the CD launch on November 27, Smilin’ is available in London at Chapters (Masonville) and Madrigal Records on Richmond, just north of Central Ave. The Sirens also appear on the forthcoming CD, You Gotta’ Hear These Guys, the sole Canadian participants on a compilation of ten promising folk artists. No wonder The Sirens are smilin’!